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HANDBOOK 

OP 

MODERN ARABIC: 



CONSISTING OF A 



PRACTICAL GRAMMAR, 

WITH 

NUMEROUS EXAMPLES, DIALOGUES, 

AND 

NEWSPAPER EXTRACTS ; 

IN A EUROPEAN TYPE. 

/ 
BY / 

FKANCIS W." NEWMAN, 

EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON ; FORMERLY FELLOW 01 
BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD. 




LONDON: 
TRUBNER AND CO., 60, PATERNOSTER ROW. 

1866. 
[All rights reserved.'] 



< 



HERTFORD: 

FR1NTED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN. 



r r ri> 



PKEFACE. 



Arabic is talked differently in Algiers, in Malta, in 
Egypt, in Syria, in Bagdad, and among the Arabs of 
the desart. Nowhere 1 is the Arabic of the Koran and 
of poetry spoken. The difference of the old and new 
is similar in many respects to that between the Greek 
of Homer and the Greek dialects at the time of 
Xenophon. No modern can without pedantry and 
absurdity speak in the older dialect. When he com- 
poses poetry, he may write as Hariri, if he can ; just 
as an Athenian or Alexandrian, if he chose to adopt 
dactylic hexameters, might use the dialect of Homer. 
When the Arab now writes prose, he obscures the chasm 
which separates his dialect from the ancient, by omitting 
the vowel points, which used to distinguish the cases of 
the noun and the moods of the verb. While learned 
men struggle to forbid the phrase Modern Arabic, and 
will have it that the language has not changed (as if 
change were not a necessity of nature and a condition 

i See P.S. 

b 



VI PREFACE. 

of growth), they yet distinctly confess that these final 
vowels are not and may not be sounded. But their 
omission so mutilates the old grammar, as in itself to 
constitute a new dialect. Moreover the words in use 
have largely changed, especially those in most frequent 
recurrence. A huge mass of meanings have become 
obsolete. The dictionaries mischievously heap together, 
without distinction, the senses which belong to different 
ages or places, and call that "Arabic." Even con- 
cerning the Thousand and One Nights, which is more 
recent than the age esteemed classical, the learned Mr. 
Lane confesses that it is often impossible, " out of 
twenty or more significations which are borne by one 
Arabic word," to be sure which was intended by the 
author. He declares that the style of that book is 
neither classical, nor is it that of familiar conversation, 
but is almost as different from the one as from the other. 
I hope that I need no further defence for insisting that 
to learn the Modern Arabic is not to learn the Ancient, 
and to learn the Ancient is not to learn the Modern. 

Although the local dialects differ considerably, the 
difference is superficial, as in other cases of provin- 
cialism. When Arabs write a very unpretending letter, 
they lay aside a part of their local peculiarity. Mer- 
cantile letters from Syria to Bagdad, or Bussora, or 
Tunis, are a rough representation of " Modern" Arabic, 
as distinct on the one hand from the purely local 
dialects, on the other from the classical language. 



PREFACE. Vll 

Catafago's English- Arabic Dictionary evidently aims 
at this mark. A fuller and far richer exhibition of the 
same is in the Arab newspapers ; which, whether pub- 
lished in Algiers or at Beirout, are in a dialect and 
style closely alike. To this may be added numerous 
publications of recent years, which exhibit the Arabs 
struggling to put off provincialism, and assume a 
common medium of thought. Such is what I under- 
stand by Modern Arabic, only its want of vowel-points 
leaves many minor problems unsolved. If any one has 
urgent need to understand Lancashire talk, he must go 
into Lancashire to learn it : so he must go to Algiers, 
or to Aleppo, to learn the local dialect. But if he 
wish to learn English, he will do best to learn first, 
neither the jargon of our peasants, nor the poetry of 
Spencer or Chaucer. Such easy prose or familiar lan- 
guage as educated Englishmen use, must be his begin- 
ning. He will afterwards go with advantage into 
any special field of English. The same applies to 
Arabic. 

A peculiarity of the present Hand-book is its sys- 
tematic preference of a European type, and its effort to 
put that type on a basis which should remove all objec- 
tion to its permanent use. This has been a favourite 
object with the writer for more than the third part of a 
century, after his early experience of the great and 
needless difficulties which the current imperfect mode 
of writing Arabic involves. He did not then know 



V1U PREFACE. 

that Yolney had long since promulgated the same doc- 
trine : but the moment that a European understands 
the nature of the case, it needs not even experience to 
show the hardship now gratuitously inflicted on the 
learner. What would be thought of an English 
teacher's common sense, if, when a Frenchman desired 
to learn English, he should insist on teaching it him by 
a form of writing which omitted short yowels ? Nay, 
if a Frenchman, ignorant of English, desired to read 
English short-hand, we should regard it as an insanity 
in him to refuse to learn our language and our long- 
hand first. If any one deny this, further argument is 
useless. The sole real question is that of fact : does 
the current literature omit vowels ? It does, except for 
poetry ; and the vowels of poetry do not show the 
actual pronunciation of prose and of cultivated speech. 
At present a learner is thrown on the dictionary, to fix 
many of the vowels : and since in learning languages 
we must forget much, and we remember only by 
frequent repetition, he may have to look out in his 
dictionary ten times, to know how to pronounce one 
word, even if the context show him its meaning. Then, 
alas ! the best modern dictionary (that 1 of Bocthor) is 
seldom pointed : in consequence of which, as I am now 
aware, I used often to put wrong vowels to the words 
which I learned from that dictionary. When the gram- 

1 Only French- Arabic : one cannot look out an Arabic word in it ; nor 
indeed in Catafago, with his alphabetic arrangement. 



PREFACE. IX 

matical analysis of a word is already known, gram- 
matical rules will often settle the short vowels ; but 
how to analyze the word, is perhaps the very problem 
to be solved ; or whether the word is to be active or 
passive, is doubted. Moreover, so few of the people are 
educated, that their enunciation is very obscure. To 
learn the true vowels by the ear, is to the foreigner all 
but impossible. When the books and even the dic- 
tionaries alike evade to inform him, whence is he to 
learn ? Grant that every one will wish ultimately to 
read the native short-hand ; still, the speediest way to 
attain the power, is, by first learning the language in 
long-hand, exactly as if we were dealing with English. 
Some years back I printed a hand-bill on this subject, 
exhibiting a system of European transliteration, and 
closing with the following passage : — 

"IV. Advantages of a European Type. — 1. It will split 
the difficulties to Europeans learning Arabic, and to Arabs 
learning a European tongue. We shall be able to grapple, 
first with the language, and afterwards with the Arab type, 
and the Arab conversely. 2. What in contemplating new 
literature is of high importance, — it will lessen the expense 
of printing. 3. It will give to the Arabs capital letters, 
Eoman letters and Italics ; for many reasons valuable, espe- 
cially in facilitating reference by a mere glance of the eye, 
and in preventing proper names from being mistaken for un- 
known common words. 4. By a more perfect punctuation, 
and by quotation marks, our type has advantage over even 
the most carefully pointed Arab text, in ease and quickness 
of reading. Much greater is its advantage in ease and cer- 



X PREFACE. 

tainty over an unpointed text. 5. It will aid foreigners and 
natives to enlarge their vocabulary. At present, with an un- 
pointed text, even the native is apt to make ridiculous or 
disgusting blunders, if he dare to put vowels at random to a 
word previously unknown. 6. It will enable Arabs to write 
foreign names unchanged, or nearly unchanged ; as Europeans 
do. Now, their attempts at foreign names are ludicrous, and 
involve enormous error. 7. Small Arab types strain the eyes 
of readers painfully; an important topic to Bagdad, Syria, 
and Egypt, where weak eyes and blindness are so terrible a 
scourge. 8. Eew of even professed scholars ever gain the 
same intimate familiarity with an alphabet totally foreign, as 
with their own. If the Arabs need European instructors, — 
if they need Europeans to co-operate in producing for them 
a new literature, {without which they can have no national re- 
surrection,) — they must be willing to accept our alphabet. 
By it they will multiply a hundredfold their aid from Europe, 
and will facilitate their own access to European literature. 
9. By duly writing the double system of vowels, the imagina- 
tion of Arab readers will be set more upon them, to the 
certain softening of Arab elocution, and a great lessening of 
its fatigue. At present, from the habit of writing conso- 
nants only, the intense effort to distinguish them leads to a 
spasmodic and hideous harshness, quite needless when the 
distinctive vowel sounds are duly heard. 10. So also the 
foreigner, who often proves permanently unable to execute 
some of the consonants correctly, will yet, : — by cultivating 
the vowel sounds carefully, in which he is more apt, — attain 
a pronunciation always intelligible, never ridiculous, and at a 
short distance will seem to speak correctly. Eor vowels are 
heard further and clearer than consonants. 11. Whatever 
develops intellect, excites zeal for research into antiquity. A 
really new Literature, in European type, under European 
influence, will not make the students of the old literature 



PREFACE. XI 

fewer; but will enable them to pursue it more fruitfully, with 
minds more powerful to select and to fuse." 

I distributed this hand-bill in many quarters, and re- 
ceived several letters. One learned gentleman briefly 
replied, that he " could not see any use in my proposed 
change," — entirely ignoring the eleven uses which I 
had enumerated. Similar rebuffs came from other 
quarters. I suppose, therefore, I must count on nothing 
but opposition from the learned, who seem to me dis- 
posed much to underrate the difficulties which they bave 
surmounted, or indisposed to smooth the way of learners- 
When the field of learning is infinite, it is with me a 
crime to increase difficulty. I do not write for the 
learned, but to aid the unlearned : hence I appeal to 
the latter alone ; — to those who have good sense, but no 
acquaintance with this particular language. 

I have been a learner of languages for more than 
fifty years past, and have learned much of a few lan- 
guages, a little of many. I know what makes them 
easy, and what hard : and I positively attest that this 
Arabic type is an enormous and gratuitous increase of 
difficulty; pre-eminently as to words in which the 
vocalization is really uncertain, — in which case one is 
ever learning and unlearning, and wrongly (perhaps) 
blaming one's memory. It is astonishing that either 
protest or reasoning should be needed on a matter so 
plain. Suppose us not to be learners, but already 
learned. We take up a book, — say, a newspaper, and 



Xll PREFACE. 

try to read it. To put the right yowels is impossible, 
until the eye has glanced forward in the sentence ; for 
it may contain half a dozen words with doubtful vowels, 
which can only be adjusted by studying the whole. If 
the three words A, B, C be doubtful, each depends on 
the other two, as well as on the words which have no 
doubt. For instance, 1 In ceteb, means, If he shall have 
written ; Enna ceteb, That he has written ; In cotib, If 
it shall have been written ; Enna cotib, That it was 
written ; Enna cotob, That books — ; and Inna cotob, 
Verily books — or — As for books — : and which of these 
is correct, depends on what is coming. The text writes 
all six perfectly alike. Thus every time one refers to a 
sentence, it has to be studied anew. The paper generally 
blots, if one try to insert vowel points in ink : hence I' 
find it takes less time to write out in full, with my own 
pen, a work which I want to study, than refer to the 
unpointed Arabic text. Why natives make light of 
this, it is not my part to explain : but, whatever facility 
they have, it is none the easier to foreigners. If, then, 
we (or illiterate natives) desire to become expert in the 
short-hand, it is wise first to learn the language 
thoroughly in fo^-hand. At present it is difficult or 
impossible to get prose works that have the vowel 
points marked. The deficiency of stops, the absence 
of parentheses, and the mingling of words, aggravate 
other difficulties. 

1 It may also be read, Enn, ceteb, He groaned, he wrote. 



PREFACE. Xlll 

The task which I have taken on myself cannot be 
done perfectly by me. If a learned Arab could have 
enthusiasm for it, and had (as perhaps some may have) 
as keen an ear for the English, French, and Italian 
sounds as I have; and had been educated in European 
grammar as I have ; and knew as well as I, where 
Europeans are apt to go wrong, and what they 
need ; — he would execute this task better than I. No 
foreigner can know, in delicate cases, what vocalization 
is, on the whole, best — neither pedantic nor vulgar. I 
can but collate the pronunciations sanctioned by Faris, 
by C. de Perceval, by Cherbonneau, by De Braine, 
by Leon and Helot, side by side with my own re- 
miniscences and my own MSS. written in Syria and 
Bagdad, making allowance for a French ear, and the 
peculiar deficiency of certain simple short vowels in 
French. After all, the delicate cases are few and 
exceptional. I am obliged to give directions for pro- 
nunciation, and my directions have no pretence to be 
perfect. But if they could be perfect, they would still 
be insufficient. No Englishman can learn from a book 
to pronounce French correctly, and the same is true of 
Arabic, whether a native write it, or a foreigner. 

The educated natives themselves vary among them- 
selves, especially concerning the fine and coarse vowels ; 
a distinction which exists, but is not acknowledged in 
writing, even when vowel points are added. Between 
a and e there is often much uncertainty ; as, whether 



XIV PREFACE. 

to say Jadied, 1 f. Jadieda (new), or Jedied, f. Jediede : 
but it is no more important than the question whether 
command, basket, should be pronounced with the broad 
Italian a of Middlesex, or with narrow a, as in midland 
and northern counties. In some of these details I 
perhaps have not attained consistency of spelling. 
Nevertheless, not only is our vowel system immeasur- 
ably superior to theirs, but as regards types for con- 
sonants, our resources are really great. Greek gives 
us three letters, © a r, identical with Cj J £ . Hebrew 
(a square type, easily harmonized with the Eoman,) 
gives four letters, D^ny, identical with b ^ ~ c. 
English, in C Q X, has three superfluous letters ; we 
may add long Z of old English. It only remains to 
use such resources judiciously. 

In India European types are extensively used to 
write the native languages. Our missionaries employ 
them in Africa, in the Pacific, and everywhere else, 
with more or less skill. The objections urged by some 
of the learned are astonishingly superficial, such as, 
that it is " against the genius of a language to bring 
in a foreign alphabet." They might seem to think 
that the Arabic alphabet had grown out of the soil 
with the language. Notoriously, it was adapted from 
the Cufic, by the very clumsy method of points, such 
as we often employ upon Roman letters. The single 
Phoenician alphabet has been modified into Greek, 
1 In Aleppo I always heard Jedied, in Bagdad (I think) Jadied. 



PREFACE. XV 

Coptic, Gheez, Amharic, Etruscan, and Roman ; also 
into Estrangelo- Syrian, Cufic, Syriac, Samaritan, 
Hebrew, and Arabic. Very few languages indeed 
have bad an alphabet made for their express use ; and 
if there were more such, they would only vex us the 
more. 

Volney suggested the right thing, but his characters 
did not at all harmonize with Roman type. The letters 
ought to adapt themselves also to Italics, and be easy 
for joining hand, if possible. To dots there are grave 
objections. A single dot cannot be large enough to 
strike the eye, without being ugly : the printer there- 
fore is sure in the long run to make it hurtfully small. 
Also in MS. it easily looks like a blot, and mistakes 
arise as to which letter it is meant to affect ; hence it 
impedes quick writing. A zero is better than a dot ; 
yet this blots in writing, and is not so good as a con- 
tinuous train of the pen. Besides, as I now know, 
unless a printer cut new types, the zero pushes the 
letters apart. Accents, and the apostrophe, are wanted 
for their own purposes, and in maps all such things 
are mischievous. If new types must be cut, it is well 
to make the forms as perfect as may be. 

The objects to be gained by a system of European 
transliteration are so great, that the eleven arguments 
quoted above rather allude to than develop them. 
Something more must be here added. A sound know- 
ledge of geography lies at the basis of modern culture, 



XVI PREFACE. 

and; for it maps are necessary. Without this know- 
ledge the Orientals must remain as children, with weak, 
empty, and delusive ideas concerning other nations; 
incapable of receiving instruction by books or news- 
papers. But who will engrave maps for Turks, Arabs, 
and Persians in the type of their native MSS ? what 
publisher in Paternoster Row or New York will under- 
take the speculation ? And if such maps existed, what 
native seeking information would be able to read them, 
traversed by dots innumerable in irregular direc- 
tions? An Arab may afford to turn into embroidery 
sacred texts with which he is familiar : but if one inter- 
lace in a map foreign names unknown to him, they 
must be unintelligible in such a%haracter. Only maps 
with a very few names, such as are in our children's 
schools, could be legible. The Arab vowel points, 
utterly insufficient as they are to express foreign names, 
would entangle the problem worse than ever ; for, the 
objections to using them and to dispensing with them 
are alike powerful. But we may further ask, Is India 
never to receive modern cultivation ? or is any one 
insane enough to suggest that the English Government 
will go to the expense of maps in the Devanagari and 
Tamil character? — a character far less embarrassing 
than that of Arabia. It will be replied, — " Of course 
all Indians who desire western cultivation must learn 
to read the names on European maps." By the same 
reason we are claiming nothing great, in expecting 



PREFACE. XV11 

Arabs to make themselves masters of two kinds of 
type, and learning to transliterate. Most evident is 
it, that the world cannot afford to indulge in separate 
atlases for Arabia, for Bengal, for the South of India, 
for Burma, for China. For all these peoples a pre- 
requisite of cultivation is, to learn the characters and 
use the maps of Europe. Not indeed our languages; 
that would be a condition too hard to fulfil, a condition 
which no despot could enforce. But if a beneficent 
Sultan were to establish schools for Arabs, and were to 
teach Arabic in them through a European type solely, 
this could not be felt as a hardship, in a country where 
so very small a fraction of the natives can put right 
vowels to the simplest native text. 

And this seduces me into a political remark. England 
at vast expense sustains an embassy at Constantinople, 
and a fleet in the Mediterranean, for the sake (it is 
said) of English interests in the East. When we in- 
quire what interests are intended, nothing else is dis- 
coverable but that we desire to maintain in Turkey 
" good will to our commerce, our religion, and our com- 
munications with India." Men not the least acute in 
the English Parliament have avowed their belief that 
our diplomacy and our fleets have no tendency to pro- 
mote this " good will," but rather the contrary. With- 
out venturing on so large a question, one may be 
permitted to assert, that if half the expense of our 
Mediterranean fleet were retrenched, and the money 



XVU1 PREFACE. 

spent under the direction of our Consuls in free schools 
for the native population of Turkey,-— to instruct them 
in Geography and the elementary knowledge to which 
it is the key, by the intervention of the European 
character and European maps ; — it would do more in 
fifteen years to promote the intelligence and prosperity 
of Turkey, and with it all the solid and legitimate 
interests of England, than ambassadors and fleets can 
do in five hundred years. 

P.S. — Since the above was in the printer's hands, I 
have seen the remarkable statements of Mr. Palgrave, 
that in the ~N. E. of Arabia, which he has opened to our 
knowledge, the people preserve in daily talk the final 
vowels of classical Arabic. Since no discussion of such 
a topic can here find place, it must suffice to remark, 
that if the people of that region talk the language 
current 1300 years ago in Mecca, it is now a strictly 
local peculiarity. In no case can the population, spread 
over the vast surface hitherto known, adopt the ancient 
dialect, as to its final vowels, or as to words and their 
current senses. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I.— ON PRONUNCIATION AND WRITING. 

SECT. PAGE 

1. Vowel Sounds 1 

2. Consonant Sounds 5 

3. Relations of Vowels to Consonants 11 

4. Process of Transliteration 16 

PART II.— ON GRAMMAR. 

1. Nouns and Adjectives 19 

2. Composite State of Nouns . 33 

3. Demonstratives and Emphatic Pronouns 39 

4. Interrogatives 46 

5. Prepositions 48 

6.' Suffix Pronouns . 54 

7. Auxiliary Nouns or Quasi Pronouns 60 

8. Numerals 64 

9. Plurals of Nouns and Adjectives 68 

10. Comparatives 73 

11. Relative Pronouns 75 

12. Elements of the Verh 80 

13. Types of the Noun 86 

14. Auxiliary Verbs 89 

15. Classes of the Verb 93 



XX CONTENTS. 

SECT. PAGE 

16. Degenerate Verbs 99 

17. Adverbs and Conjunctions „ 104 

18. Ancient Cases of the Noun 109 



PAET III. -PE AXIS. 

1. Tables of Plurals 114 

2. Exercises on " of" 118 

3. Small Talk without Verbs 120 

4. At the Close of a Journey 122 

5. At the Caravanserai 124 

6. On Dessert 127 

7. Talk with a Cook on Catering 130 

8. "With Muleteers on a Journey 133 

9. Coptic Feast 142 

10. Two Tradesmen 148 

11. Clothier and his Customer 152 

12. With a Tailor 155 

13. A Stationer with a Paper Merchant 158 

14. Specimen of Prose with few Verbs 161 

15. Newspaper Extracts 162 







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HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC, 



PART I.— PRONUNCIATION AND WRITING. 



§ 1. VOWEL SOUNDS. 

1. Pronounce a ordinarily as in mutable, coachman, or nearly 
as u in mud. Tims, Bann, coffee-bean ; Madd, he stretched ; 
Babb, lord ; are sounded as English bun, mud, rub. 

Yet with strong h (B) and Ain (f ) the a is sharpened 
into Prench a of salon ; which happens in some other words 
not easy to enumerate, as Ana, I ; Aahr, back (sound it, 
An-a). Perhaps h in Aahr, affects the a. 

2. Short e is for the most part sounded nearly as in men, 
bell, only not quite so clear. (Whether indistinctness is 
here any virtue, may be judged differently in different pro- 
vinces.) Thus, Jeb-al, a mountain; Eel-ad, a district; Med- 
iena, a city; Geb-ier, great. [The Englishman must not 
pronounce Je-bal, Belad, nor IM/diena, Cto'bier.] Thus also, 
El, the ; Tell, hill ; Ente, thou ; Emte, when ? Bel, but. 

Nevertheless, e, like a, in many words takes a second sound, 
viz., that of English a in man, which is a sound not normal 

1 



^ HANDBOOK OE MODEEN AEABIC. 

in French and Italian. This sharpened sound of e may be 
heard especially, (1) in connection with c or h; as in Ecbar, 
greater ; EcBer, more ; Lee, to thee : where Lee is to be 
sounded as English lack, and Bee (in thee) like English lack. 
(2) In certain contrasts, such as JSTefes, breath, Kefs, self; 
Bered, hail, Bard, cold; the second e of the dissyllable is 
sharpened so that an Englishman might write Nef-as, Ber-ad. 
Indeed in 5>asel, honey, I always heard the e as our sharp a. 

3. If certainty could be attained, it might be well to write 
a e for the sharper sounds of short a and e ; thus we should 
have Ana, I ; Aa.hr, back ; Ente, thou ; Berad or Bered, hail ; 
Bee, in (or with) thee. I awhile attempted this, but found 
too many doubtful cases, and too much uncertainty whether 
I was pursuing laws of the language or provincial accent. 
On the whole I think that *, h, and c tend to modify e into 
sharp English «, as f tends to sharpen a : thus *Em, or ; 
*Emma, but; *Emr, affair. There are not less than four 
different sounds of these two short vowels, which the Arabs 
either omit, or express by the single mark which they call 
Eatha. 

4. Long a (a) is at least as broad as in father, mask, of the 
South of England. Indeed with Q, the a is apt to. take the 
deep sound of our au aw in haul, lawl. So too in the word 
Allah, God, which an Englishman would be apt to write 
TJl-lauh. 

5. Long e (e) is as the vowel in dare, hear, hair, their, 
there. It is probably old Greek rj, nearly Erench e, or e. 
IVIany English families or even counties so mince the a in 
grasp, lasket, castle, command, as to yield the sound of this e ; 
but in the South of England it is only heard before r. 



HAITOBOOK OF MODEEK AEABIC. 6 

6. Short i is as with us in little pin. This sound being 
unknown to the French (who are prone to say leetle peen), 
one is apt to be misled by Erench notation which aims to 
transcribe Arabic. In Min, from ; Li, to ; Tilf, waste ; Mel-ic, 
king ; Sinn, a tooth ; Ma Crib, sunset ; If enzil, lodging ; the 
short i is as clear as in English. [In many words the vulgar 
are quite indistinct, merging it in o, u, or e. Thus I always 
heard Bela, without ; which Earis writes Bila for the English 
learner. The word is a modern formation ; but analogy re- 
quires Eila, so I follow Earis. And in some other words, in 
spite of provincialism, I cling to the classical Icisra, where 
we have classical guidance.] Observe, — never to pronounce 
final short e as i. 

7. Long % is as in English machine. It may be written i 
to save space ; but to economize the circumflex, I write ie 
for it, as in our field. Thus Tien, figs ; Mediena, city ; 
Eetiele, wick [not ~Fitieli, rather Eet-iele]. 

8. Short o is ordinarily as our oo in good. Yet when 
accented in a closed syllable it is rather the Erench o, as 
Octob, write thou ; Kobz, bread. 

9. Our long o in stone, according to Catafago, is not Arabic 
at all. . Yet the Christians and Jews in Aleppo pretty clearly 
say Yoam, a day (with the vowel sound of English loaf) ; so 
Loan, a colour, etc. In strictness this is a Diphthong. 
English oa is only an approximation to it, yet it is an ap- 
proximation which will never be misunderstood. In fact, 
there are here two sounds, which I write eu, au. Of these 
eu approaches to oa, o in boat, bone, and au to ou in our, sound. 
The Arabic utterance is here less pure and single than the 
English ; two vowels are heard in imperfect combination 



HANDBOOK OF MODEBN ARABIC. 



Thus Yeum, day (nearly Yoam), Dau, buttermilk (nearly 
Dow). In fact Dawa, medicine, is sounded exactly as Eng- 
lish Dow-a [compare dower], and might in Arabic be written 
Daua without impropriety. 

10. Short u is intended for French u in oureau. In Syria 
both o and i often degenerate into u ; especially when o is 
repeated. Thus they say Cutob for Cotob, books ; Jubon for 
Jobon, cheese ; Fulfol for Folfol, pepper ; Muxmox for Mox- 
mox, apricots. 

11. Dotted o represents the German sound, nearly French 
eu in heureux, jeune. In Syria u is often corruptly sounded 
6, as FoSSa, for FuSia, silver; Bo'San, for SuSan, horse. 

12. By ui I represent the long French u in lune, perhaps 
old Greek vi. 

13. The diphthong ou is to be sounded as in French, or in 
English you. This might be written u to save space; but 
the fewer circumflexes the better. 

. 14. The diphthong ou is a very obscure sound, but perhaps 
is that of French oeu in soeur, sister. Compare old Ionic cov. 

15. The diphthong ai is very near to English i in. fire, tile; 
as Kair, good ; Kail, horses ; Tair, other. JSTo one can be 
misunderstood, or can seem absurd, who exactly utters here 
the English vowel. Yet the Mohammedan Arabs give some- 
where more of the double sound. 

16. The same remark applies to the diphthong ei. Never- 
theless it is all but identical with English ei, ey, in veil, grey, 
which is the same sound as in maid, pale. Thus Leil, night, 
would be written Lale, or Lail, or Leyl by an Englishman. 
The combinations ie, ui ; ei, ai ; ou, ou ; eu, au ; might 
with equal grammatical propriety be written iy, uy ; ey, 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. O 

ay ; ow, ow ; ew, aw. But such, notation would probably be 
less acceptable to Western readers. 

§ 2. CONSONANT SOUNDS. 

1 7. There are twenty-eight consonants. I call seven mas- 
culine or coarse ; seven feminine or fine ; fourteen neuter or 
medial. The neuters are — six liquids, 1, m, n, r, w, y ; three 
aspirates, 0, k, f ; also the five letters f, b, d, j, x. 

18. The liquids are sounded exactly as in English, if you 
carefully retain everywhere for r its full vibration (as in the 
Irish, mouth), even before a consonant, or at the end of a 
word : as in Barr, terra firma ; Bard, cold, subst. [for which, 
an Englishman is prone to write Burrad, as though it were a 
dissyllable]. 

19. Of the aspirates, 6 is as in Greek, or English th in 
thin, breath. K, T are commonly written Kh, Gh ; the 
former being German ch in auch, or rougher still, as in Swit- 
zerland, r is to K exactly as B to P, D to T. Arabic 
Ghain (T) is fundamentally the modern Greek T or Dutch 
gh, only exaggerated. It is our Northumberland "burr," 
the consonant heard in gargling. Many Frenchmen and 
Germans lisp B, into V ; hence Hanoteau (in Zouave) treats 
the Ghain as a modified B, : but this obscures its relation to 
the aspirated K. In fact, B, K, T, are all alike vibratory, 
and r has no more of B than this common property. The 
Arabs say Tefarfor (TErABTOB) for gargling the throat ; 
a word suggested by the sound. 

In MS. I am accustomed to write G g for Arabic £ and 
K k for ~. ; which involves no inconvenience while we deal 



b HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 

with Arabic alone. But for certain languages into which 
Arabic enters, — as' Zouave, Persian, Turkish, — this is ob- 
jectionable; since G is there wanted for its English sound; 
and it seems a pity to waste Greek T, when we have it to 
our hand. Even in Arabic, English G is often useful for 
writing proper names ; as in Giana {Guiana), Gienia {Guinea), 
Ingliez {English), Ingilterra {England). Indeed in a few 
Arab nouns the English hard g is heard : thus Nargiel for 
!Narjiel, cocoanut ; Dongola, a heron. It is regarded as a 
peculiarity of the Egyptian dialect always to harden the 
Jiem («•) into Giem, which is an approach to Hebrew. But 
no further notice will be here taken of this. 

20. F, b, d, j, are sounded as in English : only perhaps 
the d is slightly dental, as with French and Italians. For j 
the French write dj, the Germans dsch, which are too clumsy 
for transliteration, and grammatically objectionable, especially 
when the letter has to be doubled. Finally, x here repre- 
sents English sh, as in Portuguese, not without historical 
excuse ; for x of Latin stood for Greek f , and the represen- 
tee of this in Phenician and Egyptian seems to have de- 
generated into the sk and sh. But convenience is here the 
chief argument. "We cannot afford to waste the x. 

21. P and Y are found only in foreign words, as Yapour, a 
steamboat, which will probably prove an inevitable noun. 
Atarceb-a-nar, (nreship) suggests a different thing. In such 
names as Petersburgh, Paris, Yienna, Yalparaiso, we need 
P and Y. [Also in Persian, Turkish, Zouave, the sounds of 
English tch and French j are found, as well as the hard 
English g. These three are all marked in Turkish type by a 
triple dot (•'•) which in MS. is habitually imitated by the 



HANDBOOK OF MODEE2s T ARABIC. 



circumflex (*). A triple dot has none of the disadvantages 
in printing which a single dot involves. It is not mistaken 
for a blot on the MS.; and it is legible without being so 
large as to appear an ugly spot in the types. Hence I think 
that c, j, g surmounted by a triple dot will not ill represent 
«- , J , \S, ^ occasion require, in Indian or African languages. 
Nevertheless, if T C be adopted for i , our simple G g suffices 
for Persian Gaf.] 

22. The seven feminine or fine consonants' are s, z, t, a, 
c, h, *. S never has the sound of s, but is everywhere sharp. 
T is slightly dental, and in Algiers tends to degenerate into 
ts, as with the Kabails or Algerine Berbers. A a is as in 
modem Greek, or our flat th in the, this. C is nearly our h, 
but forwarder in the mouth, and more mincing ; as is the 
the case with s, s, t also. The Turks interpose short i after 
c, saying nearly (in English orthography) kiean or kyean for 
cen. Hut the Bedouins sound c as our ch in chill, chant, 
latch; and the learner who has no opportunity of hearing 
the true sound of Q, will do best to give to C its Bedouin 
pronunciation ; otherwise he will almost inevitably confound it 
with Q,. Even at Bagdad the Bedouin sound prevails, at least 
before e and e, and it is in perfect analogy with the soft sound 
of j, which is almost universal beyond Egypt. H is perhaps 
identical with English h. Einally * (which is called Hamze) 
is a mere hiatus. ~Xsq are made aware of it even in English, 
when we distinguish " an *ice pudding" from "a nice 
pudding;" but an Arab would wish to write Anti^ochus, 
Italia, where it seems to us absurd to reckon the hiatus as 
a consonant. In such a word as Tes^el (he asks), the con- 
sonantal power of the hiatus is less obscure. 



8 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ARABIC. 

23. Between a or e and a the Hamze in modern pro- 
nunciation generally becomes y; thus Mirse^a (anchor) is 
Mirseya. Even Ma* (water) is pronounced May ; and so we 
may write it, the radical letters being mwy. The Moham- 
medans make Hamze audible in Xai* (thing). Sometimes 
the Hamze between vowels changes to w (and is so written 
by the Arabs), especially when the preceding vowel is o or 
ou ; as Mowellif (a composer) for Mo^ellif. 

24. The seven masculine or coarse consonants correspond 
with the feminine, each to each. They are $, 5, % 5, q, K, f ; 
*S, 5, % L, Q, H, 6?. The two first are a pouting s and 2. 
The lips are protruded, and (natives say) the tongue must be 
put between the teeth, with much danger of biting it. The 
form of *$ is borrowed from Hebrew ¥• The coarse t (X) is 
familiar to us in Irish brogue, when water is pronounced. 
The upper gums (or even the palate) must be touched by a 
broad mass of the tongue, and the lips opened ; while in the 
fine t the root of the tooth is touched by the mere point of the 
tongue, and the lips drawn closer. The S is nearly dth of 
Englishmen, yet it is not a double sound, but a coarse a 
formed by a thick tongue on the gum; while in fine a the 
tongue delicately touches the edge of the fore tooth. Q, is 
far deeper in the throat than our h (as c is forwarder in the 
mouth than Jc), and is very soft, — wholly free from vibration. 
The foreigner finds his throat soon to become sore at the root 
of the tongue from a frequent utterance of Q,. It is thought 
to be heard from the rooks when they say caw ; hence Qaq 
(pronounced Q,awq) is Arabic for the crow, generically. Strong 
h (E) is often heard from Irishmen. It is wheezing and 
guttural, with something of a w in it at the beginning of a 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN" ARABIC. 9 

word, as in our rare name Whewell. The force of air in the 
throat is considerable, and is strangely prolonged when it 
ends a word, as MelieE (good), EaE (he went). The letter 
Ain (ft) is not merely a hiatus, like Hamze, but a muscular 
upward jerk of the chest and stomach, accompanied with an 
elevation of musical note to the vowel. It may be called a 
spasmodic emphasis, such as a stuttering man executes, when 
at last his vowel struggles out ; as ^arab (Arabs), Mafz 
(goats), Eobf (quarter). A foreigner at first believes it is a 
vowel : and it is as much a semivowel as s, st, h, which we 
seem able to sound by themselves. Grammatically it is 
treated as a pure consonant. 

25. In a few words either there is confusion between 3 and 
S, or 5 has changed its sound. Aahr (the back), Aohr (noon), 
Aolme (darkness), NaSuif (clean), 'I'aSm (bone) ; and in 
Syria EafaS (he preserved) ; — are pronounced with I, though 
written (in Arab character) with 5 (1?). Eut Salini (tyranni- 
cal), 5 aim (tyranny), are sounded with 5, as though it were 
a different root from Aolme (darkness). [In classical dic- 
tionaries NaSuif is dirty, and JN^uif, clean /] 

26. The terminations -ieq, -iek, -ief, are uttered as if a 
short a were interposed before the final consonant. [This is 
PatEa furtive of Hebrew.] It is peculiarly important in ex- 
pressing -ieq, as ^atieq (^atie-aq), old; since it at once 
discriminates Q, from C. Possibly -ieK, -ouK equally have 
the furtive a. The learner must most carefully learn to dis- 
tinguish the terminations -ief, -ieK, -ieh, as in Xanief, 
shameful ; MelieE, good ; Cerieh, unpleasant. In -ief the 
muscles of utterance jerk upwards. MelieE must be con- 
ceived of by the Englishman as Melie-ahhh, with long con- 



10 HANDBOOK OE MODEEN AEABIC. 

timied wheezing; and Cerieh as Ceriehi, with final i pro- 
nounced very rapidly. v 

27. The true sound of 6 and a, as explained above, is 
retained at Bagdad in familiar talk; also by the Bedouins, 
and in reading the Koran or poetry. No one can be mis- 
understood when he adheres to the correct sounds ; and they 
are so easy to an Englishman, that he ought from the be- 
ginning to be punctiliously accurate. To corrupt into s 
or t, a into g or d, confuses words essentially different, and 
is a really mischievous depravation of the language, though 
systematically practised by many even of the learned. To 
merge English thin into tin or sin, breathe into breeze or breed, 
is just the corruption here deprecated. 

28. Double consonants followed by a vowel must be dwelt 
on, as in Italian terra, bella. An Englishman is apt to neg- 
lect, and indeed not to understand this. Yet we have it in 
meanness, soulless, which we should never pronounce meaness, 
souless ; nor do we confound nice size with nice eyes, but we 
sound double s in the middle of the former. Only at the 
end of a word a double consonant cannot be uttered. It 
remains double for mere grammatical reasons ; as Modd 
(extend). 

29. The combination nb is properly sounded mb, as in 
Zenbiel (basket), pronounced Zembiel. Its plural is Zenabiel, 
where n reappears. [In Syria I used to hear Jan'b, Jen'bi, 
as if with a short vowel elided, instead of Jambi (at my side). 
This is perhaps comparable to provincial English umbrella, 
musharoom.] 

30. The combinations dt, At, it, Ot, Xt, are all sounded as 
tt : but for grammatical reasons they are not so written. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN AKABIC. 11 

$ 3. KELATION OF YOWELS TO CONSONANTS. 

31. Vowels are of three classes, which (imitating native 
grammars) I call Eathites, Kisrites, Dhammites. They are 
thus arranged : 





Short. 


Long. ^ 


Fathites 


Fine 
Coarse 


e 
a 


e=e* 
a = a* 


Kisrites 


Fine 

Coarse 


i 

ii 


ie = iy 
ui=uy 


Dhammites 


Fine 

Coarse 






on = ow 
on = ow 



SPECIAL DIPHTHONGS. 




There is no grammatical difference between a fine and its 
corresponding coarse vowel or diphthong. The choice be- 
tween the two is determined by the nature of the contiguous 
consonants. Hence even in pointed Arabic they are not dis- 
tinguished. [Short e or a is called EatKa, short i or u Kisra, 
short o or 6 Samma.] One general rule must guide us. 
There is a close affinity between the coarse consonants and the 
coarse vowel-sounds. Even so, the rule holds but imperfectly 
of Q,, which only with Eathites and diphthongs takes the 
coarse sounds. 



12 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

Learned grammars do not always lay stress on the double 
sound of the vowels, if they name it. Oberleitner, indeed, 
says (§ 4, 3) : "The vowels have a double sound, emphatic 
with the emphatic consonants, soft with the other letters. 
This double sound in practical utterance needs peculiar care, 
lest words unlike in sense he confounded." Caussin de Perceval, 
in his short but valuable modern grammar, lays chief stress 
on the difference of a, a from e, e. Of the rest he says 
merely, "The guttural and emphatic letters give to the 
vowels a vague sound which we cannot express by our 
vowels." 

32. To a foreigner the Arab consonants are so difficult, that 
unless he anxiously attends to the accompanying vowels he has 
a poor chance of avoiding ridiculous ambiguities. Yowels are 
more easily heard than consonants ; and if we sound them 
rightly our errors in the consonants will often escape the ear. 
Hence to write this distinction of vowels, and let it impress 
imagination and memory, is to us of first importance. Even 
before the same consonant n the Arabs say Ana (I), Ente 
(thou), though they write the first vowel of each word alike. 
Every European writes A in the former word, E in the latter. 
Also Man? (who?) is sounded with the vowel of our bun, 
none, run. In regard to the neutral consonants there is great 
uncertainty whether the coarse or the fine vowels are to be 
used. Even concerning Q, before the Kisrites I have more 
than once changed my opinion. I have asked a person to 
pronounce to me the word jjuy**Ja (Sun), and have been quite 
unable to ascertain whether Xams or Xems better denoted his 
utterance; for he appeared to go backward and forward be- 
tween the two, or to express something intermediate. So, 



HANDBOOK OP MODERN ARABIC. 13 

whether 9ala0a or OeleGe he better, may he differently decided 
at Bagdad and at Beirout. 

33. The fine or feminine consonants have a decided pre- 
ference for the fine vowel sounds; hut they are sometimes 
overpowered by the proximity of a coarse consonant. It is 
laid down that in WasaT (middle), Satfi (flat roof), the X not 
merely imposes a (instead of e) on each word, but changes the 
sound of s (or allows it to be changed) into *$ ; so that WaSat, 
SatE are a legitimate pronunciation. [So the Latin sounded 
scriptus for scribtus, optineo for obtineo.] Sometimes it 
affects orthography, Suq'ra for Sicfr a, hailstone. In a doubt- 
ful choice, as, between Bait and Beit (dwelling, lodging) the 
soft t seems a reason for preferring Beit, as in Syria. [Earis 
directs us to say Bait ; but he also bid us say Al, Anta, Jabal, 
Tall, Malic, Madiena ; which every European hears as El, 
Ente, Jebal, Tell, Melic, Hediena.] 

34. Immense ambiguities result from negligence of pro- 
nunciation as to coarse and fine sounds. Contrast — 

Eitna, sedition; EuTna, prudence. 

Ser, he proceeded ; Sar, he has become. 

Tebaf, he followed ; ^abaf, he printed. 

Seif, a sword ; Saif, summer. 

SeuT, a whip ; SauT, a voice. 

SilaE, arms; SulaE, pacification. 

Semm, poison ; Samm, was deaf. 

Teb, repented ; ^ ab, was nice. 

Terec, he left ; ^araq, he knocked. 

Cel, he measured ; Qal, he said. 

Ces, cup ; Qas, he measured. 

Sehil, easy; SeKul, seacoast. 



14 HANDBOOK OF 1TODEEN AEABIC. 

Tier, thought; Eaqr, poverty. 

Hedd, he demolished ; Hadd, a limit. 

Herab, he tied ; Earb, war. 

Cewi, he branded ; Qawi, strong. 

*emal, he hoped ; Carnal, he worked. 

So as to difference of mere vowel : 

Dohn, grease; Dahin, greasy. 

Xoub, dilute; Xaub, sultriness. 

ISTour, lustre ; Naur, a blossom. 

Dain, a debt ; Lien, (the) faith. 

Earr, heat; Eorr, free, well-born, 

^ufl, a young child; ^tafal, potter's clay. 

5?ajal, haste ; ^ajil, urgent ; ^ujl, calf. 

Dibb, creep ; Dobb, a bear. 

If the Arabs ever have new intercourse with the foreigner, 
with renewed cultivation and increased refinement, it is pro- 
bable that their harsh consonants will be greatly softened. A 
day may come when the words Tuin (clay), Tien (figs), will be 
distinguished by the vowels alone, as Loam and Loom in 
English. It is truly strange that a system of writing, which 
(at its best) makes no effort to distinguish such vowel differ- 
ences, should be imagined perfect. 

35. Hebrew is believed by Gesenius to have had funda- 
mentally the same triple distinction of vowels as Arabic ; but 
when the Masoretes analyzed the pronunciation more care- 
fully, they greatly increased the number of vowel marks. 

In English some consonants change the sound of vowels. 
"W alters the sound of a to o in wasp, what, watch, warp, 
wander, etc. E after e, i, u, ai, ea, a, often changes their 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AKABIC. ' 15 

sounds. between w and r takes the same sound as e, i, u. 
Such phenomena may aid an Englishman to understand how 
Arab consonants may modify the vowels. 

36. Of the neutral consonants d has a special affinity for 
a rather than e : the same is sometimes visible of n, b, j. 
Thus we have (with sound as in English Dumb) Dam^ (blood) 
not Dem ; Bann (coffee bean) not Benn ; Dabbe (beast) * not 
Debbe; Jabb (an open well) not Jebb; Janb (a side) not 
Jenb. "When natives write these distinctions of vowels they 
may elicit some general laws at present unknown. Yet it 
may be safely laid down that B, K, E, in common with Q, 
have an affinity for the coarse Eathites (a, a) and for the 
coarse Diphthongs {ai, au). With these exceptions, the 
neutral consonants incline to the fine vowel sounds; and 
none of them ever assume 6, 6u, ui. "We might add u, but 
for the Syrian pronunciation Cutob, Eulfol, etc., mentioned 
above in Art. 10. I also used to hear Jufn (eyelid); for 
which Ereytag has Jefn, Jifn, Jofn, as if labouring in vain to 
express the sound. 

37. W, y, % are called weak consonants, and the other 
twenty-five, strong. "When a weak consonant closes a syllable, 
it is sometimes dropped, and may be denoted by the apostrophe, 
as Bama' (he threw) for Bamay. [Catafago usefully intro- 
duced this apostrophe."] But generally the weak consonant 
coalesces with the vowel: thus a*, e^ become a, e, and fi 
(which is' rare) is sounded ie. Thus Mi^ya (a hundred) = 
Mieya = Miyya. But aw, ew, ay, ey y are identical with the 
diphthongs au, ei, ai, ei. 

* The a is shortened into a before the double consonant. This is a 
general rule. It is written a, not a, for grammatical reasons. 



16 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

§ 4. THE PROCESS OF TRANSLITERATION. 

38. Rules for transliteration are here given; yet their 
application should be judiciously postponed, until some 
familiarity with words has been gained. Those words and 
combinations with which the pupil is already well acquainted 
should alone be written in Arabic character. 

The European text has first to be prepared by the following 
modifications. Since the Arabs do not write the distinction 
of fine and coarse vowels, we must throw that distinction 
away. Hence — 

(1) Change au, eu to aw ; ou, 6u to ow ; 
ai, ei to ay ; ie, ui to iy ; 
also a' e' to ay ; id, ud to iyd ; 
final i to iy ; iey to iyy ; ia to iya. 

(2) Pinal a, e, which is a feminine termination, may be 
dotted to represent if (dotted h). 

Observe that a, i, o (the only short vowels then remain- 
ing), are to be expressed by a vowel point (EatEa, Kisra, 
iamma) attached to the preceding letter. If no letter pre- 
cede (i.e. if the a, i, o begin the word), Elif must be written, 
to carry the vowel point. EatEa is over the letter, Kisra under 
it, but of the same form ; as ^ na ; ^ ni. Aamma (o) is a 

comma over the letter ; as £j no. Circumflexed a, 3, in 
general are denoted by Elif 1 with EatEa over the preceding 
letter ; but at the beginning of a word the Elif receives in- 
stead a circumflex to lengthen it, I . 

After adding Elif thus to all words that need it, incorporate 
the particles ¥a, Ea, La, E, the article El, and the preposi- 
tions Bi, Ce, Li, with the word following ; every European 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AJRABIC. 17 

consonant being expressed (from the Table in the Frontispiece) 
by the corresponding Arabic consonant. The learner will 
perhaps at first make errors about Elif, which alone is 
anomalous. 

The particles Ma, Ae (of HeAe) have Elif {\) for a 
final letter. In a few words (as Allah, God ; Lecin, but ; 
HeAe, this ; 0ele0, three), the Elif for d, S, is irregularly 
omitted in Arabic text. Einal h dotted (*) is written for 
feminine -a, -e, or -at, -et, final. But to every plural verb of 
3rd pers. ending in ou, Elif is arbitrarily added. 

Lastly, the adverbial termination -an, -en, is not to be de- 
noted by ^ in the text, but by 1 with double EatEa. 
.39. Eor the actual junction of the Arabic letters, a few 
details will be useful. The order of the letters in a word is 
the reverse of English; viz., from right to left. The 
letters J, J, j, J, j, \, are never joined to one following, 
hence they remain nearly unchanged (except when *J are 
sometimes combined). Elif is joined at the bottom to a letter 
before it, as b Id; and Lam-Elif {Id) has the form ^ or 1. 

Most of the consonants end with a flourish, which has to 
be cut off in junction: thus — becomes :>•. Initial h is 
written £>, but h joined at each side is g. M in the middle 
of a word is a loop falling below the line. ^ (A- m ) joined 
on both sides is x; joined on one side, it is s. when initial 
and £. when final. The letters —, _, ^, require that a 
letter preceding shall mount above them; hence it becomes 
sometimes uncertain to which a dot belongs. "When I is 
followed by m, the loop of m is generally thrown out to the 
right, as i, (Im). A double consonant is not written twice in 

2 



18 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

the text, but receives a mark like w over it, called textied. 
The same mark is placed over I of the article El, when it is 
assimilated to the consonant following. Thus Ommi is f ^* \ , 
Omem is f\, El xams is ( j M ^Jl)\ . 

It is a good rule, extensively used, to retain the two dots 
under ^j (y) at the end of a word, when the y is sounded, 
and omit the dots when the y is mute ; which is here written 
a\ e\ 

It remains at option to omit all the vowel points. 

Expertness in any new type can only be earned by practice. 
The learner may get partial help from the words in a later 
section, written in alternate type. 



19 



PART IL— ON GRAMMAR. 

§ 1. NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES. 

1. Gender oe Nouns. — Arabic Nouns are masculine or 
feminine, often arbitrarily, a. Names of things female are 
naturally feminine, b. So are names of countries 5 towns, 
and villages, c. So are the names of the double members of 
the body, as Yed, hand ; Eijl, foot. d. So are the collective 
nouns technically called broken plurals, e. So are most 
nouns ending in a, 3, a\ e\ a, e: as, ^aSa, a staff; Cise, 
garment ; Marse', harbour ; Milne', musical instrument ; 
Mediena, city; Melice, queen. 

Feminines in a, e, have lost t from the end. Those in 
a\ e\ have generally lost y, and those in a, i, sometimes w, 
sometimes *. In certain inflexions they regain their lost 
consonant. 

2. The feminine of a noun is sometimes formed from the 
masculine by adding a or e ; as Celb, a dog ; /. Celbe, Celba : 
$amm, father's brother, %mma, father's sister ; Kal, mother's 
brother, Kala, mother's sister; Jadd, grandfather, Jadda, 
grandmother. But for the commonest relations and nobler 
animals the feminine has an independent name; as EuSan, 
horse, Earas, mare ; *Esed, lion, Lebou*a, lioness. [The 



20 



HANDBOOK OP MODEBN AEABIC. 



female horse being commoner than the male, the Arabs say 
" mare" when the sex is not thought of: as, "Have you no 
mare to ride?" We similarly say cows, sheep; not bulls, 
rams. To define the feminine idea Mare, if error be feared, 
the diminutive Foraise (filly), says Kazimirski, is used for 
Mare.] 

3. The Adjective follows its noun, and agrees with it in 
gender. Its feminine is ordinarily formed by adding a, e. 

Rajol qawi, a strong man. 
Mar*a jamieb, a beautiful woman. 
$abi semien, a fat boy. 
Darb wesik(^), a dirty road. 
Melic jaliel, a majestic king. 
Bint SaCiera, a little girl. 
Jariya naKuib, a slender damsel. 
Dar fasieK^, a spacious house. 
Celb mouAi, a troublesome dog. 
Melice jalieb, a majestic queen. 

[Mar 5 a, woman, is classical, and is the only word that I 
heard from the people. (Do not confound it with Marra, " a 
single time," une fois.) In modern prose, the learned appear 
always to write Imra^a, a woman.] 

Some adjectives end in i (unaccented) which is shortened 
from iey, as Qawi, strong, for Qawiey ; Ingliezi, English, for 
Inglieziey. In the feminine the accent falls on this syllable, 
and the y comes back ; as Qawiey a, Ingliezieya. 

Adjectives of the type labour (patient) do not form any 
special feminine, nor do those which naturally have no 
masculine ; as Eamil, EabiJf pregnant. 



HANDBOOK OP MODEEN AEABIC. 



21 



Some verbal adjectives in an change the termination into a? 
for the feminine ; as Secran, drunken, /. Secra'. 

Adjectives of the type Akras, Axheb, will be mentioned in 
Art. 12 ; and Comparatives in 95-97. 

4. For convenience of reference two lists of !Nouns are here 
given, the gender of which could not be guessed by their sense 
or type. 

The following are feminine : — 

Age, sinn* 
Axe, fa*s 
Barley, xaf uir 
(Broad) Beans, foul 



Bow, qaus 

Bucket of leather, dalou 

Buttock, ist 

Cup, ce*s 

Cuirass, dirt 

Earth, *erS 

dinger, uSba? 

Fire, nar 

Eox, eeflab 

Gold, Aeheb 

Hare, arnab 

Hell, jaEuim 

jehennam 

House, dar 
Hyena, Sabf 
Left-hand, ximal 



Liver, cibad 
Machine, manjanieq 
Oath, yemien 
Park, firdaus 
Paunch, >, 
Lobe, ! cirx 
Ventricle, ) 
Razor, mous 
Scorpion, faqrab 
Salt, milE 
Self, Soul, nefs 

Sole ' ) 

Horseshoe, ) 

Spider, fancebout 

Sun, xams 

Trowser, xarwal 

War, Earb 

Well, bi*r 

Wind, rieE 

Wine, kamr. 



* Sinn, properly means Tooth. 



22 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC- 



The following are of either gender : — 



Arms, silaE 


Peace, selm 


Authority, solTan 


Solfi 


Cutlas, kanjar 


Road, darb 


(FnU) Day, Sofia' 


Soil, Mould, Gera' 


Heaven, sema* 


State, fial 


Knife, siceien 


Stewpot, qidr 


Musk, misc 


Tongue, lisen 


Nape, qifa 


"Way, Tarieq 


Neck, fonq 


Womb, rafium. 


Path, sebiel 





5. Dual of Nouns. — All nouns form a regular dual. [In 
Barbary only names of things naturally double. This is as 
Hebrew.] The classical dual has two cases — absolute case 
in an, en; oblique case in ain, ein; but in conversation the 
absolute is never heard. Feminines that have lost t, w, y, 
resume it in the dual. Indeed, those in a\ e\ are treated as 
if they had always lost y, and those in a, e, as if they had 
lost w. Thus : 



Rajol-ein, two men 
Mar*at-ein, two women 
Melic-ein, two kings 
Melic't-ein,* two queens 
Fetey-ein, two lads, two 

young men 
^aSaw-ain, two staffs 
Marsey-ein, two harbours 



Jebal-ein, two mountains 
Medienat-ein, two cities 
Ted-ain, two hands 
Rijl-ein, two feet 
Milhey-ein, two musical in- 
struments 
Ridaw-ain, two mantles 
Cisew-ein, two garments. 



6. The Plurals of Nouns and Adjectives are generally 
Imperfect and irregular : as Xai% a thing, pi. Axya*, things ; 
* Or Mel'cetein. 



handbook of modern Arabic. 23 

Insen, a human being, pi. Nes, men, Nise or Mswan, women ; 
Celb, a dog, Cilab, dogs. Most of what are called plurals 
are collective nouns feminine ; as, in English, from a Steed 
comes a Stud, from Cord, Cordage. 

One form of Imperfect plural looks like a classical dual, 
but has a vowel change in the penultima; as ]Sar, fire; 
Nieran, fires. I propose to call this the False Dual. The 
topic of the imperfect plurals must be postponed. 

7. Perfect Plurals. — Most feminine nouns in a\ e\ a, e, 
make a real or perfect plural in dt, et ; so do many feminines 
in a, e; especially when formed from a masculine. Thus 
from Melic, /. Melice, queen, pi. Melicet, queens; from 
Bad, /. Bafala, pi. Bafalat, female mules. Almost the only 
masculine nouns which make a perfect plural are those which 
denote tradesmen. These are of the form Kabbaz, baker ; 
Baqqal, greengrocer. The nominative ought to be in oun ; 
but popularly ien serves for all cases ; as Kabbazien, bakers. 

8. Article. — El, the, is indeclinable, and precedes its noun. 
Before fourteen consonants, fancifully termed Lunar, El re- 
tains its full pronunciation. But before x, s, z, $, 5, r, t, G, 
d, S, % a, n (which, with 1, are called Solar), 1 by an un- 
fortunate slovenly pronunciation takes the sound of the con- 
sonant following, and is popularly lost to the ear. Thus, 
El dien, the faith, is sounded Ed dien. I put a zero under I 
to mark this change. [The printer is forced at present to use 
a dot for a zero.'] Thus : % 



El xams, the sun 
El dar, the house 
El ra*s, the head 
El darb, the road 



But El qamar, the moon 
El beit, the dwelling 
El melic, the king 
El celb, the dog. 



24 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC". 

The obliteration of the sound of I, which has invaded half of 
the Arabic,, is universal in Hebrew. [Whether the likeness 
of El to Latin Ille be accidental, is curious matter for inquiry. 
Compare Ola, these, Ae-l-ic, that yonder ; Art. 28 below.] 

El in some combinations means this ; as Elyeum, to-day ; 
EPen, (at) this season, now ; Else? a, this instant. In such 
words I write it as in composition. 

Our indefinite article A, An, is understood without expres- 
sion. 

9. The article El must be added to the adjective as well 
as to the noun ; as, El rajol el tawiel, the tall man. Before 
the adjective it then differs little from a relative pronoun; 
" the man who (is) tall." Eeminine a of the noun regains its 
t before El. 

El nehr el aSfar, the yellow river. 

El jariyat el jamiele, the beautiful damsel. 

El jebal el xamik, the lofty mountain. 

El doroub el wesika, the dirty roads. 

El taf am el Taiyib, the nice food. 

El celb el xaris, the illnatured dog. 

El dar el cebiera, the great house. 

El cilab el mouAiya, the mischievous dogs. 

Occasionally a foreign adjective precedes its noun. Thus 
(Bagdad) Tceux beit, a good house. Especially in Turkish 
titles, as, El lax qawwas, the chief bowman. Then El is 
not repeated. 

A small number of substantives are current in the sense of 
adjectives, and these always precede the noun. The most 
important to be here named, are, Coll, Jamie?, all; Cile, 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 25 

both; Sou*, ill, evil; Tair, other. Thus, Sou* kabar, ill 
news, bad news ; Sou* bakt, ill luck ; Tair xai*, another thing, 
i.e.,' quite a (liferent affair. The opposite phrase is, Farad 
xai*, one thing, a single thing, i.e., it is all one, it conies to 
the same, it does not matter. [In Bagdad they say, Earad 
bad, "#mule." But this is degenerate style.] 

10. There is a type called the Noun of Unity, which is 
often derived from a noun expressing a material, fruit, or small 
animals collectively. The type is simply that of a feminine 
in -a, -e. Thus : 

Kobz, bread ; Kobze, a bit of bread. 
LaEm, meat ; LaKma, a piece of meat. 
Semn, butter ; Semne, a piece of butter. 
Zebieb, raisins ; Zebiebe, a raisin, 
^unab, grapes ; ^unaba, a grape. 
Xajar, trees ; Xajara, a tree. 
Naml, ants ; ISamle, an ant. 
<¥ oub, brick ; Touba, a brick. 
Mafz, goats ; Maf ze, a goat. 

Arabic has many collective nouns, as Kail, horses; Ibl, 
camels; Mafz, goats; Baqar, oxen; £an, sheep; Mehe, deer; 
^air, birds. But they do not always yield a noun of unity. 
Dictionaries tell us that Baqara is noun of unity, and means 
an ox as well as a cow ; but the people seem to use Baqara 
solely for a cow, which has no other specific name. N.B. — 
Since we can say El kobze, the piece of bread, the noun of 
unity only suggests A, An accidentally, but does not ex- 
press it. 

11. If the article is expressed before the substantive, but 



26 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 



omitted before the adjective, the adjective becomes a predicate, 
and is or are is understood. (Mixed examples :) 



El Karr el xadied, 

the intense heat. 
El jebal xamik, 

the mountain is lofty. 
El xajarat el xamiqa, 

the lofty tree. 
El ee^s faiua, 

the cup (glass) is empty. 
El soccer taiyib, 

the sugar is nice. 
El leil el barid, 

the cold night. 
El bab meftouK, 

the door is open. 
El xehr el qabil, 

the approaching month. 
El leil moilim, 

the night is dark. 
El *emr el mohimm, 

the important affair. 
El xai* mofimm, 

the thing is vexatious. 
Axya* Kaqiera, 

petty matters. 
*Emr Safb, 

a difficult (grievous) affair. 
El *emr el Sa^b, 

the grievous affair. 



El zeman Tawiel, 

the time is long. 
El rajol najjar, 

the man is a carpenter. 
El aulad mouAia, 
the children are mischievous. 
El hewa barid, 

the air is cold. 
El qadaK el farif, 

the empty goblet. 
El kadim KaSur, 

the servant is ready. 
El darb tawiel(e), 

the road is long. 
El tarieq el f amma, 

the public way. 
El belad bafuid, 

the district is distant. 
El cilab wesika, 

the dogs are dirty. 
El Kait el semiec, 

the thick wall. 
El xabbec moseccer, 

the window is shut. 
El rieK xadieda, 

the wind is intense. 
Jihed f a5uim, 

a mighty enterprise. 



HANDBOOK OE MODERN AEABIC. 



27 



12. The following list of adjectives may be convenient :■ 



Great, cebier 

Small, Safier 

Mighty, faguim 

Petty, Eaqier 

Much, ceGier (Many) 

Little, qaliel (Few) 

Long, tawiel (Tall) 

Short, qaSuir 

High, <rali 

Low, watu 

Broad, f ariei 

Narrow, iaiyiq 

Wide, wesief 

Deep, famieq 

Shallow, xayif (Catafago) 

Thick, semiec 

Thin, raqieq 

Fat, semien 

Lean, naEuif 

Heavy, Geqiel 

Light, kafief 

Strong, qawiey 

Weak, Safuif 

Intense, xadied 

Gentle, latuif 

Hard, (stiff, cruel) qasi 

Soft, laiyin 

Sharp, Eadd 

Blunt, cell 



Quick, serief 
Slow, batu 
Hot, sokn, Earr 
Cold, barid (bardan) 
"Warm, dafi (dafyan) 
Tepid, fetir 
"Wet, mabloul 
Moist, ratub 
Dry, yabis 

naxif 

Clean, naSuif (!?). 

Dirty, wesik 

Nice, taiyib 

Nasty, cerieh 

Salt, maliE 

Bitter, morr 

Sweet, (dulcis) Eolou 

— » — (suavis) faAib 

Sour, EarauS 

Acid, Eamiz 

Full, meFan 

Empty, farif 

Dear, fali 

Cheap, rakieS 

Valuable, nefies 

Worthless, fafax (rubbish) 

Good, melieE 

Bad, radiey 

Better, aEsen 



28 



HANDBOOK OP MODEEN AEABIC. 



Excellent, jaiyid 
Vile, raAiel 
Useful, nafuf 
Useless, baTul 
Noble, najieb 
Yulgar, hemjiey 
Superior (in quality), 

rafief 
Inferior, daniey 
Wise, faqil 
Stupid, belied 
Learned, falim 
Ignorant, jehil 
Skilful, mehir 
Clumsy, faxiem 



Happy, sef uid 
"Wretched, mescien 
Hale, fan 
Sick, mariei 
Bich, faniey 
Poor, faqier 
Near, qarieb 
Distant, baf uid 
Ancient, qadiem 
Old (thing), fatieq 
New, jadied 
Difficult, painful, Safb 
Easy, sehil 
Arduous, Easier 
Slight, heiyin. 



To these we must add a few remarkable adjectives of the 
type Axheb, which express the primary colours or bodily 



Bed, aEmar 
Green, akiar 
Yellow, aSfar 
Brown, esmar 



Blue, ezraq 
Grey, axheb 
"White, abyaS 
Black, eswad. 



Blind, a? ma' 
One-eyed, a? war. 
Deaf, atrax 
Dumb, akras 



Left-handed, axwal 
Born lame, afraj 
Bald, aSlaf 
Leprous, abra3. 



They are declined as AEmar, red ; /. Eamra ; pi. Eomr ; 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ABABIC. 29 

only that the plural of AbyaS, white, is BuiS, by a law of 
euphony, for Boy£. 

The substantives expressing colour, derived from the above, 
are Eomra, KoSra, Sofra, Somra, Zorqa, Xohba, BiyaS, 
Sewad(a). Examples : 



El semawat Eamra, 
the heavens (are) red. 

El foyoum seuda, 

the clouds (are) black. 

El donya zerqa, 

the world (sky) is blue. 

El kail zorq, 
the horses (are) blue {i.e. grey !) 



El qamar abyaS, 

the moon (is) white. 
El Ingliez buiS, 

the English (are) white. 
El rami esmar, 

the sand (is) brown. 
El biCal somr, 

the mules (are) brown. 



13. It is impossible to examine these lists of adjectives 
without being struck by their forms. Such as Cebier, CeGier, 
Xadied, differ in the three consonants only, but have the same 
vowels. In these we regard the root (or characteristic part) 
to be Cbr, C0r, Xdd ; and in fact, most words of the language 
are thus referable to three radical letters. But it is well here 
to enumerate the chief types of adjectives : 

1. The type Sehil, level; Semij, gross, rank; Nehim, raven- 

ous; Eamiz, acid. 

2. Barid, cold; EamuS, sour; Eamiz, acid; rali(y), dear; 

Fetir, lukewarm. (This is an active participle or par- 
ticipial adjective.) 

3. ^anied, obstinate; MelieE, fair, fine, good; ^Enieq, agree- 

able ; Xarier, evil. This is on the whole the commonest 
type. (Only when w or y is the second radical, w is 
assimilated to y, and transposition takes place ; as Taiyib, 



30 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AHABIC. 

nice ; Laiyin, soft for ^ayieb, Layien ; Heiyin, slight, 
easy, for Hewien.) 

4. Easoud, envious ; ^amoul, active ; KaKoum, merciful. 

(This type denotes fulness, as our termination -ful and 
Latin -osus.) 

5. Xaffal, busy, devoted to business ; Meccer, swindler. (This 

type denotes habit, and is very common to express 
tradesmen; as Najjar, carpenter.) 

6. AKmaq, fatuous ; Esmar, black ; Akras, dumb ; were 

treated in Art. 12. 

7. Xirrier, villainous ; Siccier, very drunken. (This ex- 

presses energy. In the classical language there are 
several other types for energy.) 

8. Bardan, sensible of cold ; Jau'ran, hungry ; 5"atxan, thirsty; 

Tefban, weary; Mel^en, full; Dafyan, sensible of warmth. 

9. Adjectives of relation end in -iey ; as Hemjiey, vulgar, 

from Hemj, populace. 

10. Yarious participles are formed by initial M, which must 
be afterwards classified. 

Of these the two most important have the types : 

a. MaTloum, known; MaxCoul, busied, busy; MeACOur, 
aforenamed ; MakSouS, peculiar, proper. 

h. Motfub, tiresome; MouAi(y), mischievous; MoGmin, 
costly ; MoGmir, fruitful : in which head we include MoCimm, 
vexatious (for Mofmim) ; Mohieb, frightful (for Mohyib). 

Safb, difficult; Wafr, rugged; exhibit the first type in a 
ruder state, in which (as in English) participle and gerund 
are confounded. (Eor there is no commoner type of the 
of the gerund, i.e. of the verbal noun of action.) In fact, 
the language exhibits Sehil or Sehl, level, easy ; "Wafur or 



HANDBOOK OP MODEEN ARABIC. 31 

"Wafr, rugged; 'x'aAib or ^aAb, sweet (water) without dis- 
crimination. 

Oh. 1. — The adjective of relation has no fixed type, only a 
fixed termination: for it adds -iey to a noun of any type 
whatever. Thus, from Melc, a king, pi. Molouc, we have 
both Melciey and Molouciey, royal, regal. 

Oh. 2. — The Western learner needs peculiar vigilance in 
regard to the sense of Arabic adjectives. Our adjectives 
habitually take two senses active and passive (sometimes 
more), even in the flattest prose, without our being aware 
of anything figurative. Thus we say, a wise man, a wise 
law ; he was doubtful ; a doubtful question ; but the Arabs > 
saying Eajol "raqil, a wise man ; would on no account make 
faqil the epithet of a law ; but Mat qoul, (made wisely ?) 
will do. So a man who is doubtful, i.e. who doubts, is Xecic ; 
but a doubtful question is Maxcouc. In these examples the 
Arabs in fact use active and passive participles. 

14. An adjective may be followed by a Complementaby 
Noun, which is adverbial in use. The noun is either pre- 
ceded by El, or takes -an, -en, (the Adverbial Case, Art. 158). 
as its inflection. This is similar to the idiom familiar in 
Greek and Latin (as, Os humerosque Deo similis), where we 
supply as to, or some equivalent preposition, in, of. In 
classical Arab style this idiom abounds to satiety. 



Cebier el fomr, 
. great of age. 
Hasen el "Soura, 

handsome of figure. 
Eadd el taraf, 

shai*p at the end. 



^awiel el ajnifia, 
long in the wings. 

^a5uim qowwaten, 
mighty in strength. 

^adiem el raEma, 
void of mercy. 



32 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 



Ei *esed ! ^a5uim el kalqa, mohieb el Soura, mokawwif el 

fayila. 
What a lion ! mighty of build, frightful of figure, formidable 

of onset. 

15. An adverb should properly follow the adjective which 
it modifies, or the adjective with its complement ; as, 

^awiel ceBieran, 



Asfar jiddan, 

yellow very. 
Cebier el fomr jiddan, 

old very. 



long in excess, too tall. 
Semiec xai^en, 
somewhat thick. 



Many adverbs (derived from noun or adjective) end in -an 
or -ten ; but in vulgar Arabic this termination is often dropped, 
and the adverb precedes the adjective. Thus at Aleppo, 
Qawi melieE (fort bon), "very good," for MelieE jiddan. 
Ana xowaiya marieS, "I am a wee-bit ill," for Ana mariei 
xai^en, I am somewhat ill. But this may be called slang. 

Peculiar attention is in this stage due to Jiddan, very ; 
Xai^en, somewhat ; CeBieran, much, too much ; Qalielan, 
scantily, but little, a little ; Eaqa% only (for which vulgarly 
Bes in Syria) ; and Tair, not (before an adjective) ; as Tair 
melieE, not good ; Tair raSu, displeased ; Tair taiyib, 
unpleasant. 



Kobz faqat, 

bread only. 
Kobz qaliel faqa% 

a little bread only. 
El mecen fair qarieb, 

the place is not near. 



El darb fair tawiele, 
the road is not long. 

El *emr 'Safb xaPen, 
the affair is somewhat difficult 

El ^omour fair Safba, 

the affairs are not •difficult. 



HANDBOOK OP MODERN AEABIC. 33 

§ 2. COMPOSITE STATE OF NOUNS. 

16. (Status constructus). The English combine two nouns, 
as Sea-side, Gold-watch, so as to make the former a virtual 
adjective. The Arabs do the same thing in principle : only, 
as their adjective follows its noun, it is the latter of the two 
which they make adjectival. Thus from Kaziena, treasury, 
and Auraq, leaves, papers, they make Auraq-kaziena, treasury- 
scrip. 

The order being the reverse to that of English, we imagine 
the word of between the two nouns, as Scrip (of) treasury. 
The particle of is wanting to the Arabs; yet they have 
several modes of supplying it, which will be afterwards stated. 

17. "When either noun is left indefinite, one may generally 
hear between them the vowel a or e; as Auraq-a-kaziena. 
So: Kaix-a-xalr, cloth (of) hair, i.e. sackcloth; Tekt-e-melic, 
throne (of a) king; Jild-a-jamous, leather (of) buffalo. In 
fact, it is often hard to utter the words without some vowel 
of union. Nor only so, but a vowel (whether a, i, or o) is 
here strictly classical; though i is objectionable to the vulgar 
as seeming to mean my, and o as seeming to mean Ms. To 
write a or e here seems irreprovable ; but that it is necessary, 
cannot be pretended. This intermediate vowel, if we write 
it, will be comparable to t in French A-t-il, which has come 
out of the Latin Habet ille. 

If we desire to mark strongly that the second noun is in- 
definite, we may insert before it, WaKud, a certain ; as Citeb 
waEud qasies, a book of a certain priest. N.B. — WaKud 
after its noun, is the emphatic numeral, One, unus, a single ; 
as Qasies waKud, one priest. Before the noun, it is less 
emphatic and answers to quidam, a certain. 

3 



34 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 



18. Much oftener, the nouns are both denned; then El 
joins them, and applies to both ; as, Jild-el-jamous, the hide 
(of) the buffalo. Here El seems to mean Of, nearly as in 
Art. 14, where it was joined to a complementary noun. 

Some compounds have become fixed, as though single 
words : thus EaVe-mal, capital (in trade) ; or Besmal : 
literally caput rei, head (of) property: also Qillet-el-bakt, 
deficiency of luck, i.e. ill luck. Compare such fixed phrases 
as Man-of-war ; Aid-de-camp, in Western tongues. 

19. More examples : 



Sebab el moSuiba, 

the cause of the disaster. 
Wofour el aflal, 

the abundance of the crops. 
Auraq el kaziena, 

the scrip of the treasury. 
^Omour el memlece, 

the affairs of the kingdom. 
Awamir el melic, 

the commands of the king. 
Makzen tejir, 

a warehouse of a merchant. 
Makzen el tejir, 
the warehouse of the merchant. 
Joloud woEoux, 

skins of wild animals. 



Auraq el xajara, 

the leaves of the tree. 
Dar el jinan {Paradise), 

the house of the gardens. 
Serier el soltan, 

the throne of the sultan. 
^Emier elai ( Colonel), 

prince of a regiment. 
BaCl el qasies, 

the mule of the priest. 
BaCl waEud qasies, 

a mule of a certain priest. 
Qi'Sa'S el jinaya, 
the punishment of the offence. 
!Nagur el malia, 

the overseer of finance. 



20. If the former of two nouns in composition be a femi- 
nine in -a, -e, it resumes (or may resume) its lost t in com- 
position ; as, Bixaqa, agility ; but, Eixaqat el f asecir, the 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 35 

agility of the soldiery. This is undoubtedly the classical and 
the very ancient method; in fact it is Hebrew, where the 
feminine in -ah, changes into -at in like case. The Arabs 
also surmount their h (*) with the two dots of their t; which 
proves the idiom to be older than the present orthography ; 
for if those who fixed it had sounded the t in all relations 
of the noun, they would have represented it by an ordinary t. 
Thus the t should not be always sounded, — perhaps only 
before the article El, or before another noun in composition. On 
the other hand, I found instructors in Aleppo to differ much, 
whether t should be sounded even in the latter case; and 
Cherbonneau, Leon, and Helot are very inconsistent in the 
matter in their transliterations. But I believe the t should 
always be sounded in these two connections. 

Turkish words in a (as Baxa, A fa) and a few Arabic words 
in a, change -a into -at in composition ; as, Baxat Raleb, 
Pasha of Aleppo. (Especially Donya, world, sky, weather ; 
Jouwa, within ; Barra, without, — popular words.) 

21. If the second noun in composition be adjectival, ob- 
scurity may result ; thus, Ibn faqier suggests A poor son ; 
not, A son of a poor (man). To express the latter, we may 
prefix Kajol (man) or "WaKud (one) to Faqier ; as Ibn-a- 
rajol-faqier. Only in this position, if the nouns admit an 
adjective of the same gender and number, it is uncertain to 
which the adjective belongs. Thus GroSoun el xajarat el 
tawiele, is either, The boughs of the tall tree, or, The long 
boughs of the tree; since the imperfect plural is treated 
grammatically as a feminine. But : 

Kail(-a)-^ ascer el kafiefa, the light horse of the army. 
Eeja el nes el Gebit, the firm hope of the men. 



36 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 



Kazienat el melic el f asuim, the treasury of the mighty king. 
Majlis el teD5uimat el ¥ali, the high Board of Arrangements. 
Wocela el seltanat el fikam, the august ministers of the empire. 
Kazienat el melic el faiua,. the empty treasury of the king. 

22. When the former noun is a dual, its n is elided ; thus, 
Tedain, two hands, Yedai'-fars, the (two) forefeet of a mare ; 
Tedai' el melic, the (two) hands of the king. Jariyatei' el 
melice, the two damsels of the queen. 

23. If an adjectival word can fitly precede its noun (as a 
superlative may), it equally well precedes a compound : thus, 
since Awwal yeum (the first day) is correct, so is Awwal 
yeum-el-sene (the first day-of-the year) ; though it is equally 
good to say, Yeum-el-sene el awwal. [On the same prin- 
ciple we read in Loqman's Fables, heAih jorzet el Eatab, 
this bundle of wood ; although jorzet el EaTab heAih, appears 
to be normal, Art. 33.] 

24. Three and even more nouns may be strung together in 
composition ; but only the last can take the article (or a 
possessive pronoun), and this makes them aU definite. The 
first of three is sometimes the numeral One, used pronomi- 
nally ; E'Ead, fern. UEda' ; as : 

E^Ead af Sa el majlis, one of the members of the Board. 
TJEda' medayin* el meHc, one of the cities of the king. 

Also an adjective which agrees with the former noun is often 
evaded by paraphrase. Thus, for, The kind exertions of the 
Pasha, they say, The kindwm of the exertions of the Pasha ; 
making a triple compound, Eosn mesefui el Baxa. The kind 

* Or, modon. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 37 

attention of the Right Hon. Fouad Pasha, Eosn iltifat Fouad 
Baxa el mo'fa^am ; lit. the kindness of the attention, etc. 
Serier melic Italia, the throne of the King of Italy. 
Hobonb riyaB el ximal, the blowing of the winds of the North. 
The newspapers carry this concatenation of nouns to an 
offensive extreme ; as, Tef alloq e^mal f omoum eheli f aSumat 
el bilad, The dependence of the hopes of the university of the 
population of the capital of the country ; for, The dependence 
of the hopes of the whole metropolitan population. 

25. Connective and Disjunctive Particles. 
"Wa (yulg. Ou), and. 

Fa, and next ; and then ; then. 

Lecin, Walecin, Lecinna (with pronouns), but, but yet. 
*Emma, Wa^emma, Fa^emma, but, however (cgeterum ?). 
Eel, nay but even : Lat. at, or Germ, sondern. 
Au, or. 

Imma — au, either — or. 
Imma — *em, whether — or, 
Incen — em — au, whether — or — or, 
Imma — wa^illa, either (whether) — or else, 
[Catafago has Ya — ya, either — or. I find no other autho- 
rity, and never heard it. Ya, or, is Persian.] 

26. Aeheb wa fu£Sa, gold and silver. 

Rajol tawiel wa qawi, a man tall and strong. 
Imma cebier au Safier, either great or little. 
Elwan bieS wa soud wa Eomr wa koir, colours white 
and black and red and green. 

Here the connective particle is repeated oftener than with us, 
and this is popular. But in careful style they are often fond 



38 HANDBOOK OP MODEEN ABABIC. 

of mere apposition, as the Latins, disregarding particles of 
connection. Thus s 

Beit Easen, mecien, mottaqin el bina, 

A house handsome, substantial, perfect of building. 

Ea has idiomatic uses in which it seems to be redundant, 
like the English interjection Well ! thrown in to gain time 
for the speaker. It often occurs at the apodosis or response,, 
and may be rendered Then. 

27. Two nouns united by ¥a (and) may form the second 
part of a compound, as : 

Eosn el Eoqoul wa el fiyai, 

the beauty of the fields and woods. 

Ewani el Aeheb wa el fuSSa, 
vessels of gold and silver. 

But to make such a union the former part of a compound 
(as, Tors wa seif el mediena, the shield and sword of the 
city) is not approved. The standard order is : The shield of 
the city, and its sword, Tors el mediena wa seifohe. (Of the 
pronoun we shall presently speak.) The necessity of this 
formula is an unpleasant constraint. 

A composite noun may become the complement to an 
adjective, with the syntax of Art. 14. Thus Earis (Nat. 
Hist.) has " El jibal el ce0iera(t) xajar-el-Sanauber, the 
mountains which are plentiful in pine trees;" just as we may 
say, CeBier el xajar, plentiful in trees. But obscurity of 
syntax accumulates through the barbarous deficiency of the 
language in this and other small matters. 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ARABIC. 39 

§ 3. DEMONSTRATIVES AND EMPHATIC PEONOUNS. 

28. The demonstratives are three, as Hie, Iste, Ille, in 
Latin ; and originally referred to the three persons, meaning 
This of mine (or, this here). That of thine, and That of his 
(or, that yonder). But the second class naturally abounding 
most in dialogue has nearly exterminated the third in the 
spoken language. 

The two first classes, except in Africa, are generally com- 
pounded with the particle He, Lo ! behold ! 

m. Ae, HeAe, this ; Aec, HeAec, that ; Aelic, that. 
/. Aie, Tie, HeAih; Aiec, Tiec, Hetiec; Tile. 
pi. (Ola), He^ola, these ; 01a*ic, He^olaic, those 1 ; (Olalic) those. 
adv.TLon&, Hehona, here; Honec, there; Honalic, there yonder. 
CeAe, HeceAe, so; CeAelic, thus, likewise. 

Also, pronouns of 3rd person ; 

Hou, Houa, he Horn (Homma), they (m.) 

Hie, Hiya, she (Hon) Honna, they (/.) 

29. One may conjecture that Ola is really the plural of 
El, which originally may have meant He (ille) ; but Ola and 
Olalic seem to be entirely obsolete. Wright, in his grammar 
of ancient Arabic, says that Olalic is extremely rare, being 
supplanted by Olalic. Even Aelic and Tile are called "high 
style" by Caussin De Perceval; nevertheless they may be 
heard when strong emphasis is needed. The classical dual 
m. HeAein, /. Hetein (those two) is understood, but little 
used. The same is true of the dual Homa (they two, them 
two). Besides, there are many variations of local dialect, 



40 HANDBOOK OP MODEEN AEABlC. 

with which it may be unwise in this stage to burden a 
learner. They will be easily picked up on occasion. Those 
that are here written down cannot be misunderstood, and are 
classical. 

80. Closely akin to the demonstratives is Het (hither ! 
bring thou !) which is inflected like an imperative : m.s. Het; 
f.s. Heti; pi. Hetou. Paris gives the word in popular con- 
versation, so we may presume that it is popularly understood. 
Ordinarily one hears Jieb, Jiebi, Jiebou (bring) which is a 
verb purely modern. 

31. Another remarkable demonstrative is Aou, /. Aet ; 
vl. Aewien, /. pi. Aewat. Among the Tay Arabs it is said 
to serve as the relative Qui. In classical use it is like the 
Greek article in certain connections with a genitive; as 
Aewie-hi, tovs avrov, those who are his. But in general, 
prefixed to a noun, it means endowed with ; thus, from ©aql, 
intellect, Aou Taql, intelligent. This is at once classsical 
and popular. The n of Aewien naturally vanishes in the 
composite state ; thus, Nes Aewie' f aql, intelligent men. 
Prom Jemal, beauty, Mar*a Aet jemal, a beautiful woman. 
When Tair (Art. 15) is used to express negation before such 
a compound, it changes Aou to Aie, as Tair Aie faql, not 
intelligent. See 157 below. 

Yery numerous compound adjectives in English are para- 
phrased in Arabic by help of Aou. Thus, The sharp-headed 
whale, el famous aou el ra*s el Eadd ; The golden-eyed duck, 
el batt aou el fain el Aehebieya. So too our adjectives 
formed in -ed from a noun; as, The crests duck, el batt 
aou el torra. 

The words Sahub (companion) and *Ehl (folk) are astonish- 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 41 

ingly used to replace aou in this idiom. This appears every 
way in bad taste and undesirable ; yet it exists as a fact. 

Ae, Aou, must have a real, though distant, relation to 
English The, which may be traced through Indo-Germanic 
and Hebrseo- African tongues. 

32. "With a proper name, the demonstrative needs to be 
thrown behind; as, Istenboul heAe, this (city) Constantinople. 

Observe, — that HeAe rajol means, this (is) a man. To 
express This man, we must insert the article between, as in 
prose Greek ; HeAe el rajol. [In Syria and Barbary HeAe el 
is vulgarly shortened into Hel indeclinable ; which confounds 
it with the interrogative particle (Art. 42). For farther 
emphasis they say Hel rajol heAe, this very man.] 

33. If This, That, is to be joined to the second of two 
composite nouns, nothing new arises. They say, ^Ism heAe 
el xai*, the name (of) this thing; Sebab heAe el xod, the 
cause (of) this business, exactly as Awamir el melic el kaiyir, 
the commands (of) the benign king. Nay, even if This or 
That be isolated, we can say, Sebab heAe, the cause (of) 
this ; Li^ejl Aelic (on account (of) that. 

But if This, That, have to be joined to the former noun, 
it is better to throw the demonstrative to the end, as, This 
son (of) the king, Ibn el melic heAe ; where Hede agrees 
with Ibn, not with Melic. [In 23 it has been noted that 
Loqman in a certain phrase violates this rule.] 

It is also popular to adopt Turkish idiom so far as to say, 
"This king, his son," for "The son of this king;" thus 
leaving king without any regimen at all. It is a liberty 
which adds one more element of vagueness to a syntax already 
vexatiously vague. 



42 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 



34. We proceed to speak on the substitutes for our Copula 
Veeb ; is, are ; is not, are not. It has appeared that is, a/re, 
are very often understood. Yet we cannot say, HeAe el 
fa'CTar, for, This (is) the druggist ; for the words will mean, 
This druggist. In such cases we must use Hou (he) or Hie 
(she) for is, and Horn, /. Honna (they), for are. In fact, 
Hou also stands for am, art, which strikingly testifies to the 
loss of its original sense. The learner must habituate himself 
to these uses of Hou, Hie, Horn, Honna. Houa, Hiya, 
Homma, are more emphatic than Hou, Hie, Horn, and seem 
to be a modern improvement. (C. de Perceval remarks on 
Honna as used for the masculine ; but this is clearly in- 
admissible.) 

35. Examples: 

Hehona may f aAib, here (is) sweet water. 

HeAe el may hou barid jiddan, this water is very cold. 

Hona el kobz hou taiyib, here the bread is good. 

Honec el may morr, there the water (is) bitter. 

Honelic el kamr leAieA, yonder the wine (is) delicious. 

HeAe el nebieA Eolou ceBieran, this toddy (is) too sweet. 

Aelic Eu'San jaiyid, yonder one (is) an excellent horse. 

Aelic el EuSan hou jaiyid, yonder horse is excellent. 

Tile el dar hie Easena jiddan, yonder house is very handsome. 

Tile el kail kafiefe, yonder horses (are) light (swift). 

Aelic el baCl el aEmar melieE, yonder red mule (is) good. 

HeAec baCl melieE, that (here is) a fine mule. 

Heola horn nes milaE, these are good men. 

Collo xai 5 " hona cowaiyis, everything here is pretty. 

HeAe hou miGl heAec, this is like that. 

HeAe el semn maliE ceBieran, this butter is too salt. 



HANDBOOK OP MODEBN AKABIC. 43 

K.B. — MelieE in old style is fair, ica\6$ : but, like each of 
those words, has changed its sense to Good in general. East 
of Syria for Good they seem to prefer Zeiyin, Zein, which 
means Adorned, Tine. For May (water) at Aleppo they use 
M'wai, i.e. the diminutive Mowaiy. See Art. 84 below. 

36. To omit is often leaves the syntax obscure : to omit 
there is is worse. For the latter the best direct substitute is, 
Youjad, literally, it is found (= it exists, it can be had) or 
the participle Maujoud, found ; as, El f ofr youjad {or mau- 
joud) honec, the (red) stag is found there. Eor is we may 
sometimes say, $ar, is become. In classical style, not quite 
obsolete, we have also the following substitute : 

Inni, I am ; Innec (m.) thou art; Inneho, he is. 

Innena, we are ; Innecom, ye are ; Innehom, they are. 

(See 55 below.) 
Qolt, enna heAih el sefara innehe menEouse, I said, that 

this voyage is verily unlucky. 

[In Barbary the imperative Ba, see ! is used to the same 
effect: Bani (see me! i.e.) I am; Bee, thou art; Beh, he 
is, etc. In the Bagdad pashalic, they say ecou for There is ; 
which perhaps means He-com, "lo for you!" In Aleppo 
(what is worst of all) they say, Fiehi, in it, to mean There 
is, II y a. All these methods, being purely local, are dis- 
pleasing to the learned, and to all who aspire at a universal 
Arabic] 

37. "Is not, Are not," are, Leis, ■/. Leiset, pi. Leisou. 
These are classical, and still in use. More popular are : Ma 
hou, /. Ma hie, is not ; pi. Ma horn, are not. Ma is the 
modern particle of negation, La generally that of prohibition ; 



44 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

but it is highly inconvenient that Ma is also interrogative 
and relative. Nevertheless, even in ancient Arabic, Ma, ana 
hou, means Non ego sum, I am not. [Ma hou is contracted 
to M'ou in Syria ; and Ma hou xai* (is not a thing, i.e. is not 
a whit, is not at all) into IToux 1 .'] 

38. HeAih el mediena leiset qadiema jiddan, this city is 

not very ancient. 

Hona ma* youjad kobz Tari, here is not found fresh bread. 

Heola el nes leisou mokturien, these men are not danger- 
ous (pi.). 

Leis hehona katar qaT, there is not here danger at all. 

Ma hou xai* honec, there is nothing there. 

Kobz tari leis moSuEE, fresh bread is not wholesome. 

Hou fair moSuEE, is unwholesome. 

The predicate in classical style has a strange tendency to 
take the preposition Ei (in, with) after it; as, Leis bi kayin, 
he is not a traitor. This redundant hi is neither necessary 
nor popular. 

39. The emphatic pronouns of 1st and 2nd person are : 



Ana, I. 

NaEn, NaEna, we (Barb. 
AEna). 

And a classical dual, Entoma, ye two. 

Classical and also current are : 



Ent, thou {m. Ente, /. Enti). 
Entom, ye (/. Entonna). 



Lest, I am not. 

Lest, /. Lesti, thou art not. 



Lesna, we are not. 
Lestom, ye are not. 



* Unless we discriminate md from ma, this sentence may mean : "Here 
what is found is fresh bread." 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 



45 



40. Examples : 

Ana bardan* jiddan, 

I (am) very cold. 
5>ase ente jauf an, 

perhaps thou (art) hungry. 
Ana lest fatxan, 

I am not thirsty. 
Ente aou ¥ aql, 

thou art intelligent. 
Lesna Aewie' mal, 

we are not wealthy. 
Ana hou el melic, 

I am the king. 
Lest ana kadim, 

I am not a servant. 
Ente hou el mof allim, 

thou art the teacher. 



NaEna horn foqara, 

we are poor. 
Lestom afniya, 

ye are not rich. 
Ma ana hou aou mal, 

I am not wealthy. 
Robbama ente kayif, 

possibly thou (art) afraid. 
Ana ma kayif qaT, 

I am not afraid at all. 
Ente jesour ceGieran, 

thou art too daring. 
5?ase ente fair jesour, 
perhaps thou art not daring. 



41. The word such is associated by us with the demon- 
stratives ; so also is same. Such is compounded of so-like in 
English (solche, swilke, swa-leiks), and the Arabs also ex- 
press it thus at large by miBl heAe, or, miBliheAe, which 
virtually becomes a single word, and might be so written. 
If a noun follows, El must come between, as MiGliheAe el 
rajol, such a man. How same is to be expressed will pre- 
sently appear. 



* A person who feels cold or warm is bardan, dafyan ; but a thing that 
imparts cold or warmth is barid, dafi ; as, may barid, cold water ; rida 
dan, a warm mantle. 



46 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 

§ 4. INTEREOGATIVES. 

42. The Interrogative Particles may first be attended to. 
In English we put the nominative after the verb (as, Is it ? 
Has he ?) and thus dispense with a particle. ' The Latins use 
An, -ne, Utrum, !Num ; and especially in writing, these are 
needed for perspicuity. In Arab talk, the tone of voice 
suffices to denote that a question is asked ; yet Paris and 
Kayat (two extremes) agree in exhibiting the interrogative 
particles E ? Hel ? in a context emphatically modern. Thus : 

HeAe leis SaEuiE, 



Hou faSuiE, 

he is eloquent. 
E hou faSuiE ? 

is he eloquent ? 
HelenteelTaTtar? 

art thou the druggist ? 



this is not true. 
E fa leis heAe 3aEuiE ? 

is not then this true ? 
HelelSabifafi? 

is the boy hale and well ? 



43. If an alternative is put (as in Latin Utrum-an) the word 
Or, which introduces the second member, is expressed by 
Em ; as : 

E hou akXar ? em ezraq ? 
is it green ? or blue ? 

The particle Ea (then) often follows the interrogative E; 
thus with negatives we have E-la — ? E-fa-la — ? E-ma — ? 
E-fa-leis — ? is it not ? is it not then ? But for the past 
time Lem replaces La, ; as Au-e-lem — ? or was it not ? 

44. Interrogative Substantive Man, who ? Ma ? MaAe ? 
what ? Adjective : m. Ei, Eiyo ; /. Ei, Eiya ; which ? what ? 
as: Ei rajol, what man? which man? Eiya mar^a, what 
woman ? 



HANDBOOK OF MODEKtf AKABIC. 47 



Adverhs: Ein, where? 

Ila^ein, whither? 
Min"ein, whence ? 



Cem, how much? how many ? 
Ceif, how? 
Em'te, when ? 

45. Em'te is compounded of E mete. The classical Mete 
is either interrogative or relative. In modern use Mete is 
relative, and even so, it is rarer than Lemma, when ; and 
Em'te expresses "when?" interrogatively. 

Ei (what ? which ?) is of both numbers as well as genders. 
In Syria they use Eina, like quisnam. MaAe, what ? well 
supersedes Ma, which has too many senses. Vulgarly also 
Mx (i.e. Ei xai% what thing ?) is prevalent ; but this ought 
not to be followed by a noun, since it has the noun xai* 
within it. 

46. Man, following a noun, may mean " of whom;" as, 
Beit man heAe ? house (of) whom (is) this ? but it is surely 
better to say, Li man heAe el bait ? to whom (belongs) this 
house ? 

Manou? Man hou? are often heard, especially when the 
word stands alone : indeed classically, Manou ? is nominative, 
and Mana ? accusative. The latter is obsolete. 

Ma, adverbially, may qualify an adjective, with the sense 
How ! in admiration : as, Ma ana mescien ! how wretched 
I (am) ! 

47. The words Man, Ma, Cem, admit of becoming " in- 
definite" instead of interrogative; i.e. mean some, amj, a 
certain quantity. To suggest the right sense, I find it useful 
to copy Greek accentuation ; and write Man, Ma, Cem, when 
they are interrogative ; and Man, Ma, Cem, when they are 
indefinite. In fact, it is natural to elevate the musical tone 
when words are interrogative. 



48 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ARABIC. 

Man, Ma, Ei, Ein, Ceif, admit also of becoming Relatives, 
as will afterwards be noted. 

48. Man hou honec ? who is there ? 

Ei Eaiwan hou heAe ? what animal is this ? 

Ei mar^a ? Eina mar*a ?> Eiyat imra^a ? what woman ? 

E la e^Kad hona ? is not any one here ? 

Ei hou (Eina hou) el bafl el qawi? which is the 
strong mule ? 

Ein el Sabi el Safier ? where is the little boy ? 

Hel youjad lafim honelic ? is meat (to be) found 
yonder ? 

E fa la ente bardan ? art not thou then cold ? 

Eiyat hie el Eor'mat el moRsine ? which is the bene- 
ficent lady ? 

§ 5. PREPOSITIONS. 

49. The primary prepositions should all be learned at once. 
They are : 



Bi, in, with, by. 

Ce, according to, like. 

Eie, in, into. 

Ila', to (with motion). 

Li, to, for. 

Min, from, of. 



Mat (together), with, 
^ala', upon, against. 
6? and, with, at, long. 

(Erench chez, apud.) 
^an, off from, away from, 

concerning. 



Of these, Ce is the least popular. It is superseded by Mi0l, 
like. It enters into CeAe, like this, so ; HeceAe, thus, so 
(vulg. Heic) ; CeAelic, like that, so forth, likewise : and in 
Syria (from the classical Ce-ma, selon que, according as) has 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 



49 



come Ceman, "likewise, again." It is right also to say, 
Ce miGl, ad instar, after the fashion of. CeAe is used for 
such, as, Li ceAe rajol, to such a man. See Art. 41, above. 
The article El coalesces with some of the above, making Bil, 
Cel, Eil, Ila'l, Lil, ftala'l. [The vulgar say Eiel, but Eil is 
classical.] Ila' and 5>ala' have lost y which they sometimes 
resume. 

50. Of the other prepositions, some are of less immediate 
importance to the learner, yet it may be convenient to have a 
list here. 



About (of quantity), naEou. 
Above, fauq, feuq. 
According to, tebaf. 
After (of time), baf d. 
Against, Sudd. 
Agreeably to, tubq. 
Among, main jomlet ; bain. 
Around, Haul. 
Before, qabl. 
Behind, wara, kalf. 
Below, Beneath, Under, teHt. 
Beside (at side of), lada, 

ladon, janb. 
Besides, ma f ada. 
Between, bain, fie ma 

bain. 
Concerning, min naEou. 
Contrary to, kilaf. 
During, dawam, toul. 



Except, fair, kala, fada, 

sewa. 
In exchange for, bidal. 
In front of, qoddam, qoba- 

la(t). 
In presence of, *emam. 
In proportion to, Easeb. 
Instead of, mecen, fawai, 

fuwaSan fan. 
Like, miOl, ce mi0l. 
Opposite, tojah, tilqa. 
Over against (face to face 

with — vis-a-vis) Eude, ize. 
Provided not, Eaxa. 
Since (of time), monA, 

mOAA. 

Together with, SoEbat. 
Towards, naEou. 
Until, Till, Eatte', li Eadd. 
4 



50 HANDBOOK OF MOBEBN ARABIC. 



Within, dakil; vulg. jou- 

wa(t). 
Without, \ karij, 



■J 



Outside of, ) vulg. barra(t). 



Without (Lat. sine), bila, 
bi fair, min fair, fair ; 
bi doun, min doun. 



51. MiOli (for Ce-mi0li, after the likeness) is very popular 
in place of Ce. For like are also said Na5uir, Xibh. Tair, 
before an adjective, was explained Not; its sense Without 
displays analogy to German and Greek in forming a negative 
adjective from Ohne, avev, without. But Tair means differ- 
ence, diverse fr om. JSaRdu, towards, about, is used to modify 
a substantive, as the Latins use quasi, " as it were;" in 
popular English, "a sort of." Thus, Haul el wejh naHou 
cenar eswad, around the face (is), as it were, a black border — 
a sort of black border. A preposition will then, if needed 
by the noun, precede Kafiou. Thus, Fie naKou Sorra, in 
a sort of bundle. The word NaEou simply adds vagueness, 
and may influence several nouns coupled by Wa, and. ^oul 
el jo00a naEou 0ele0 aqdam, the length of the body is about 
three feet; but it may equally be rendered, "is towards three 
feet." Thus the word vacillates between preposition and 
adverb. 

In some connections 5)an seems to mean without: thus, 
Ente fani fannoh ; Enti fanieya fannoh, thou art rich with- 
out it, i.e. thou canst dispense with it. 

Ma-f ada and Sewa have the vexatious ambiguity of Prceter 
and Beside(s), meaning either " except" or "in addition to." 
Sewa as a popular adverb means, " side by side, abreast." 
Ma-fada strictly means " what passes." 

Lada, Ladon, may be called high style. They are used 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN - ARABIC. 51 

especially (like old Greek irapa) in such connections as, At 
the side of the king ; so, Min lada el melic, from the side of 
the king. 

52. Uses of Min. In locomotion it is contrasted to Ila; 
as, "from Rome to London;" which needs no farther re- 
mark: its use for "of," is less regular. The deficiency of 
"of" in Arabic is supplied, partly by composition of nouns, 
partly by Min and Li, partly by special evasion or provincial 
methods. Min differs from ^an nearly as Latin ab or ex 
from de. 5? an, like de, may mean "concerning." Min ex- 
presses the partitive idea of ex ; also the material of a thing. 
It likewise enables us to put El (the) to either of two related 
nouns. Examples : 

LauR min Eajar, a slab of stone. 

Bab min kaxab, a door of timber. 

CeGier min el maracib, many of the ships. 

Cem min el maracib ? how many of the ships ? 

Sebfa min el Yahoud, seven of the Jews. 

Qatur? min el mafz, a flock of goats. 

El marSa' min el foqara, the sick (ones of the) poor. 

Elf tabaq min el waraq, a thousand layers of paper. 

Miqdar wafir min ^ewani, a copious quantity of vessels. 

Jamaf a f^uima min el nes, a vast company of men. 

El himma min el eheli, the earnestness of the population. 

Mablaf min el noqoud, an amount (sum) of cash. 

Cem min el mosefirien ? how many of the travellers ? 

El kobz radi, mePen min el rami, the bread (is) bad 

(and) full of sand. 
Kams firaq min el jonoud, five companies of troops. 



52 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

HeAe hou wahmieya min el Aaba'Tuiya, this is a fantasy 
of the police. 

El [0561111 el tawiele min el xajara, the long boughs of 
the tree. 

"Wabil min el Zarb, a shower of beating. 

El qaET min el akbar, the dearth of news. 

El seTat el 0eniya min el "SabaE, the second hour of the 
morning. 

El taraf el ximali min el jeziera, the north side of the 
island. 

Eirf min silc el telefraf, a branch of the wire (of) the 
telegraph. 

"Wezier min daulat Ameriece, a minister of the govern- 
ment (of) America. 

Jonaineti min ward, my garden of roses. 

53. Eor, What sort of — they say, Eix' min — ? as, Eix' 
min tair? what sort of bird? (Comp. Germ. Was fur ein — .) 

With the partitive Of, the Arabs often repeat a noun, in- 
stead of using E^Ead (one) pronominally ; thus, for One of 
the king's cities, they say, not only, UEda' min modon el 
melic, but also, Mediena min modon el melic ; and stiff as 
the latter appears, it is popular, as well as classical. So for 
Eie Aet leil, on a certain night, they also say, In a night of 
the nights, fie leila min el leyeli. Min is also used like 
Erench du, dela, to mean Some, A portion of ; as, Min soccer, 
some sugar ; especially in repetition, Minhom — minhom, some 
of them — and others of them. 

54. In ambitious prose, Min is used to satiety in the pre- 
dicate of a proposition, to make it indefinite. Thus instead 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 53 

of HeAe mosteKuil, this is absurd ; they say, HeAe min el 
uiosteEuil, c'(.est) (une chose) d'absurde. Thus we are more 
than ever kept in suspense where the predicate will be found. 
The formula Minma, from what, i.e. "from that which," is 
similarly abused : as, HeAe minma yoEayyir el bal, this (is) 
(a thing) of the things which perplex the mind ; where, if 
minna were simply left out, the sense would be correct enough 
and the grammar perfect. When a copula-verb (as Cen, was) 
is expressed, all is clear, though E^Ead (one) be omitted be- 
fore Min : as, Cen min el ^omara, he was (one) of the princes, 
erat e principibus. 

Min (like our from) often means "because of." Likewise, 
after a passive verb, it takes the sense of our ly. 

55. Uses of Li. In general Li, meaning to or for, needs 
no further particular remark. But, like the Latin dative, it 
may be used in the predicate, where popular English uses the 
nominative. Thus : " It is a marvel to me," may become, 
"'It is to me for a marvel." The Arabs even say, Ente 
innec li jahil, thou verily art for a fool, i.e. thou art foolish. 
HeAe fandi li motjize, this (is) with me for a miracle. 

Again, as in Latin, either dative or genitive with Est (is) 
denotes possession, so Li (to) may supply this sense ; especially 
if of two related nouns the governing is indefinite and the 
governed definite ; as, A top of the mountain, A son of the 
king; we may then use Li for English Of, saying Ra*s lil 
jebal, Ibn lil melic. 

Li (for) means also on account of; especially with pronouns. 
Thus, LiheAe, on this account; LiAelic, on that account; 
Li maAe ? wherefore ? L'eix' ? why ? (=Li ei xai* ?) But 
with nouns we have generally a paraphrase, as in English. 



54 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AKABIC. 



Li'ejl, Mm ejl, for the sake of. 
Li sebab, 



, because of. 
Jdi sebab 



Li xan (Min xan, vulg. Alep.), 
on account of; from Xan, 
state. 



Min jara', in consequence of. 

56. Uses of Bi. It especially expresses tbe instrument, 
or mode, or price; as, To buy a thing, "bi Geman qaliel," at 
or for a scanty price ; to slay a man, "bil seif," with or ly 
the sword. As expressing the mode, it forms a paraphrase 
for adverbs and prepositions. Thus : 

Bil collieya, in entirety, i.e. entirely. 

Bil ziyada, in surplus, superfluously. 

Bil faya, in the extreme, extremely. 

Bil rafm fan, in spite of. 

Bi moujib, in virtue of. 

Bi wasiTat, by means of. 

Bi xiddat, by dint of. 

Bi fair, Bi doun, without. 
"With verbs of motion, Bi must be rendered with, though it 
still is not identical with Maf (together with) ; but "come 
with" a thing, is said for " bring" it : " to go off with" it, is 
to carry it off. Many other verbs take Bi after them, just as 
in Latin and Greek many verbs govern a particular case, for 
which no reason appears. The idiomatic uses of Bi are very 
numerous, and are a main difficulty. 

§ 6. SUFFIX PEONOUKS. 

57. The personal pronouns, attached to prepositions or to 
nouns, take abridged forms in which the originals are quite 
disguised. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 



55 



-ie, -i, -ya, 

me, my. 


m. ~ec, -c, 
/• -ic, -ci, 
thee, thy. 


-ho ? -oh, -hi, 
him, his. 


-he, 
her. 


-na, 
us, our. 


m. -com, 

/• -con, 

you, your. 


m. horn ; /. hon, 
them, their. 



N.B. — After a verb, "me" is expressed by -ni. The rest 
are the same after a verb as after a preposition. 

In the spoken language, -com and -bom are freely used of 
both genders, and the duals -coma (you two), -homa (them 
two), are not heard. To express "$," the feminine -he is 
often used. It is inconvenient, that, in speaking of things^ 
he in classical style constantly means them. 

The suffix, like a Greek enclitic, often changes the accent of 
the preceding word, and sometimes hereby lengthens a vowel j 
thus, Melice, queen, Melieceti, my queen. At other times it 
cuts out a vowel ; as, SelTana, empire ; Sextan' ti, my empire. 

Thee, Thy, after a long vowel, is -c for the masculine, -ci 
for the feminine. [But at Bagdad it is always -ci ; in Algiers, 
it seems, m. and/, are the same.] 

58. System to exhibit all the forms. 



Bie, Biya 


Lie, Liya 


Ileiya 


Minni 


Bee 


Lee 


Ileic 


Minnec, Mine 


Bici (/.) 


Lici 


Ileici 


Minnie (Alep.) 


Bihi, Boh 


Liho, Loh 


Ileihi 


Minnoh, Minho 


Bihe 


Lihe, 


Ileihe 


Minhe 


Bina 


etc. 


Ileina, 


Minna 


Bicom, -n. 




etc. 


Mincom, 


Bihom, -n. 






etc. 



56 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC. 



5>andi 
5>andac 
^andic 
^andoh 
^andahe 
bandana, 
etc. 



Baini 
Bainec 
Bainic 
Bainoh 
Bainahe 
Bainana, 
etc. 



Qabli 


Citebi 


Qablac 


Citebec 


Qablic 


Citebic 


Qabloh 


Citeboh 


Qablahe 


Cithebahe 


Qablana, 


Citebana 


etc. 


etc. 



59. Him, his, is ordinarily pronounced -6, as in Hebrew, 
no h being heard; but after a long vowel, all authorities 
bid us pronounce only -h. An Englishman who tries to 
sound -h, is apt to turn it into E. I think by pronouncing 
-hi with as short an i as he can manage, he will come nearest 
to the sound ; and hi, after all, is classical. [Classical rules 
bid us say -hi, -him, -hinna, -hima, when a vowel of the 
i class precedes. The learner may at his pleasure so modify 
the o of these words. I observe that Paris, as also Leon and 
Helot in Loqman's Fables, equally with Catafago, give Fie 
waqto/j, Ha d&roh, etc., and do not struggle for Fie waqto'Az, 
Ha (i&rihi, etc, Cherbonneau vacillates.] 

60. Examples : 

Ommi marieSa jiddan, my mother is very ill. 

Aboui (Abi) wa ommi marSa', my father and my mother are ill. 

Hel abouc taiyib ? is thy father alive and well ? 

Zeujati hie taiyiba, my wife is alive and well. 

Ommec f ase Taiyiba ? thy mother perhaps is alive and well ? 

Ceif Ealec ? how is thy state (thy health) ? 

Eix' bee ? MaAe bee ? what ails thee ? 

Leis xai 5 " biya, nothing ails me. 

Hel heAe lee ? is this thine ? 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN" AEABIC. 57 

Ma hou liya, it is not mine. 

Het ma f andec ! bring what thou hast. 

Leis fandi xai', I have nothing. 

MaAe fie balec ? what is in thy mind ? 

Ma hon xai 5 fie bali, there is nothing in my mind. 

5?alaiya ? aila, on me (rests) a family. 

Liho aulad Sugar, he has little children. 

Lee baqara melieEa, thou hast a fine cow. 

Lihe qoroun Tawiele, she has long horns. 

Ommi hie maf oktec, my mother is with thy sister. 

Hehona hie ommec, here is thy mother. 

Ein aboui (abi) el*£n?* where (is) my father now ? 

Abouc fil belda, thy father (is) in town. 

Akouc leis fie biladina, thy brother is not in our country. 

bandana abouc hehona, thy father is with us here. 

^Dalaiya moradec el faziez, on me (rests) thy esteemed wish 

(i.e. I will try to perform it). 
Akouh rajol melieK, his brother is a good man. 
Collohom nes milaK, all of them are good men. 
Collocom Aewie' himma, all of you are endowed with earnest- 

ness, i.e. are earnest, energetic. 
Hel okti fandacom ePen ? is my sister with you now ? 
Hona aki mat oktec, here is my brother with your sister. 
Leis mafui kobz tari, I have no fresh bread with me. 
Mafac fasef folous, you have perhaps small cash with you. 



* Father, Brother, have radicals *bw, *kw, yet are absolutely ex- 
pressed by Ab, Ak, but in composition the w reappears regularly in 
popular style ; as, Aboui, my father ; Akoui, my brother ; though Aki is 
also heard. Aboui is not classical, though Abou followed by a noun is. 

f fase, perhaps, is said of hope or fear ; and serves to ask a question. 



58 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

Eiyoma fandec, hetoh ileiya, whatever thou hast, bring it 

to me. 
CoIToma mafac, hetoh ila hona, all that is with you, bring it 

hither. 
Aelic el Ku^an, e la houa lee ? yonder horse, is he not thine ? 
Man hou mafac fil dar ? who is with thee in the house ? 
Ma f andi cotob, I have no books. 
Leiset f andana aqlam, we have no pens. 
Cen liya *ak, I had a brother. 

The particle Ce is never prefixed to a suffix pronoun. We 
must enlarge it into Ce-mi0li or MiGli : thus, He is not like 
me, Ma hou mi0liey(a) ; He is like you, Houa miBlec (or 
miGlic). 

61. ®an, like Min, popularly doubles its n before some of 
the suffixes. Li, according to classical rule, becomes Le or 
La with suffixes. The sole trace of this seems to be in Loh 
or Leho (never Lihi) for to Mm (Le means verily). Catafago 
writes Lici, Lihe, Lina, Lihom. C. de Perceval and De 
Eraine are silent as to L#ho, L«na, etc., which my ear cer- 
tainly never caught. Lie, Lee, are to be divided L-ie, L-ec 
(sounded as English lack). Liya, Biya are perhaps more 
emphatic than Lie, Bie. In Aleppo Boh prevails over Bihi, 
yet Bihi is thought better. Cherbonneau writes B'ho even 
in poetry. 

62. ^and is written with hisra {i.e. as ^und) by modem 
literati ; yet C. de Perceval, in doing this, defines the sound 
by French and. I never heard in this word any vowel but 
a clear French a. Dictionaries exhibit ^and, ^und, ^ond 
as on a par ; hence we have no motive to struggle against the 
popular practice. 



HANDBOOK OP MODERN ARABIC. 59 

63. Several particles assume pronouns suffix. Inna (verily) 
was named above ; Enna (that) does the same ; also Lecinna, 
nevertheless : thus, Lecinni, yet I ; Lecinnec, yet thou ; 
Lecinnoh, yet he; Lecinnena, yet we, etc. The vowel of 
union which appears in 5?and#he, Bain^na, Citeb^na, etc., 
must be looked on, in the present stage of the language, as 
purely euphonic. All prepositions ending in two consonants 
are apt to need this vowel of union. The learner must not 
be seduced by the aspect of Qabl-na to pronounce it Qabalna. 
64. Lehe Tainain* jamieletein, she has beautiful eyes. 

Leho zeuja jamiele, he has a beautiful wife. 

Uandoh *ehl ceBier, chez lui is a numerous household. 

Leho Taila wafira, he has an abundant (numerous) family. 

Auladec mafui fil rief, thy children are with me in the 
country (ruri). 

HeAe hou f alaihi, this is his duty. 

MaAe liya Talaic (fandec) ? what art thou to pay me ? 

Qadd eix' bi weddec ? how much dost thou want ? 

Leis xai* falaiya lee, I owe thee nothing. 

Leis xai* liya, ilia farxain, I have nothing, but two piastres. 

Darec fasieEa, zeiyine, thy house is spacious (and) fine. 

Dari miGli darec, my house is like thine. 

Cilahomaf sewa sewa, both of the two are on a par. 

65. As the examples just given may suggest, ^and, Li, 
Mat, 'Jala are in great use, to supply the verbs Have, Owe, 
Ought ^andi, I have in my house, or in my possession; 
Liya, I have in ownership; Mafui, I have with me, about 

* More classical Tainan— ten. 

f Perhaps Cilahoma is too high style. Cila(n), both, is dual ; oblique 
case, Cilei'. It is too good a word to lose. 



60 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABA.BIC 

me. Thus, Mafac siccieneti ? (have you) my knife with 
you? 5?andi KuSan, ma hou liya, I have a horse, (but) he 
does not belong to me. 

Debt or Duty is said to rest upon or against the debtor : 
hence ^alaiya, I owe; ^alaiya folous lee, I owe thee small 
cash. 

66. The suffix (possessive) must be repeated with each 
noun which we desire it to affect. Thus, "His will and 
pleasure," becomes, "His will and his pleasure," Iradetoh 
wa katuroh. 

67. For emphasis they say, Liya ana, to me myself; Minnec 
ente, from thee thyself, etc. Also Eiya, as a fulcrum, enables 
a pronoun in the oblique case to be isolated : thus, 5anant-ec 
eiyac, "I thought thee (to be) thyself." Eiyac nafbod, wa 
eiyac nestefuin, " thee we adore, and thee we call to aid." 
When a verb takes two pronouns after it, one of them must 
be thus isolated in the modern dialect. 

68. If a demonstrative and a suffix belong to one noun, the 
demonstrative must follow: as Bafli heAe, this my mule. 
Similarly with an adjective, as, Bafli el melieK, my excellent 
mule. N.B. — The suffix is understood to make the noun 



§ 7. AUXILIARY NOUNS, OR QUASI-PEONOUNS. 

69. In English the nouns Self, Sake, Behalf, and others, 
have lost much of their substantive nature : Self, in par- 
ticular, has almost degenerated into a pronoun. The same is 
the case with many Arab nouns. Peculiarly, Nefs (soul), pi. 
Kofous or generally Anfos, does duty for Self; as do Aet, 



HANDBOOK OP MODERN ABABIC. 61 

essence, personality ; Eal, state ; EouK, spirit, pi. ArwaE ; 
and even ^ain, eye. We may add Mai, property; Eaqq, 
right; which, though abused provincially, seem to have a 
legitimate use in harmony with good grammar. Aet, pi. 
Aewat, has too many senses. Besides being an adjective 
pronoun, as explained in Art. 31 (as, Eoqoul Aet Eosn, fields 
endoived with beauty), and (what is perhaps quite old fash- 
ioned) Pie Aet yeum, on a certain day ; it is also much used 
politically, as, El Aet el soiTanieya, the imperial self (person) ; 
El Aewat el ciram, the noble personages. Catafago says 
absolutely, Aet, a lady. 
70. Examples : 

Sabi rama' nefsoh fil nehr, a boy threw himself into the river. 
El ^arab enfoshom, the Arabs themselves. 
ArouE ana bi Aeti, I will go in my person (myself). 
Qatel Eal-oh, or rouE-oh, he slew himself. 
Q,al fie nefsoh, or li Ealoh, he said in his soul (to himself). 
Yaxcor rouEoh, YamdaE nefsoh, he thanks (he praises) him- 
self. 
El Eu'San maloh, the horse his property, i.e. his own horse. 
El Eaql Eaqqi, the field my right, i.e. my own field. 
El emier fainoh, the prince himself. 

But ^ain peculiarly is used to supply the word Same ; as, 
Eil yeum f ainoh, {or fainihi), in that day itself, in that same 
day. Metef, a piece of property (an article, as we say), pi. 
Emtif a, is said to serve, especially in Africa, as Mai, to ex- 
press what is one's own. Mai, Mete*?, and Eaqq may some- 
times conduce to emphasis and clearness, in connections where 
at first sight they are vulgar superfluity. Thus, El darahim, 



62 HANDBOOK OF MODEBJS" AEABIC. 

Eaqq el jouk, means, " the money due for the woollen cloth," 
literally, " the money, the right of the cloth." 

71. But at Moosul or Bagdad I wrote down from the 
mouths of the people the following redundancies ; suggesting 
that Mal has hecome a mere preposition, Of. 

Dibs mal Ealeb, LaEm mal kinzier, 

meat of hog. 
El Sandouq mal el jemal, 

the box of the camel. 
El Kalieb mal el SobK, 

the milk of the morning, i.e. fresh. 



treacle of Aleppo. 
Dibs mal zebieb, 

treacle of raisins. 
Zebieb mal dibs, 

raisins of treacle. 



No such phraseology would be admitted in literature. 

"Whether Mali, Malec, in the predicate for Mine, 

Thine, would pass, is also questionable. At Bag- 
dad instead of the classical "HeAi citebi wa heAec citebec," 
this is my book, and this is thy book (which seems to an 
Englishman so very flat), they say, HeAe citebi wa heAec 
malec. Though Mine, Thine .... are expressible simply 
by Liya, Lee .... (as, Ma hou liya, it is not mine) never- 
theless, HeAe citebi wa heAec lee, would be wanting in 
contrast and point. 

72. It may seem that they can evade the double genitive 
(24) by Mal or Metef; as, Celb, metef el melic, a hound, 
the property of the king. Both C. de Perceval and de Braine 
lay down that in such connection the former noun must be 
preceded by El ; which of course is the case when nothing is 
meant but "the hound of the king." But perhaps in the 
opposite case they would prefix WaKud to Celb, for fear of 
being thought to omit El by accident. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 



63 



73, "We might enumerate as auxiliary adjectives or parti- 
ciples, not only E*Ead, WaEud, but also MakSoUS (belong- 
ing, peculiar, proper), MeACOur (afore-named). Thus, Ibni 
el mak'SouS, my proper son, my own son ; El Sabi el meA- 
cour, the aforesaid boy. Indeed MeACOur seems to have none 
of the stiffness which we feel in aforesaid, aforenamed, but 
has wide currency. Like to it are the formulas, El moxar 
ileihi, the alluded-to; El mouma' ileihi, the hinted-at, the 
pointed-at. 

74. ^adda, a number ; Jomla, a group ; are used like the 
English several, to express an indefinite number. A short 
list of the indefinite words often called pronominal may here 
be convenient. 

All, coll, jamief. 

Each, coll waEud. 

A certain, waEud (before its 

noun). 
Any one (quispiam,quisquam, 

after If or a negative), 

e*Ead,/. uEda'. 
Any (positively), eiyoman 

cen, quivis, eiyoma cen, 

quodvis. 
None, la e*Ead. 
Not even one, wala waEud. 
Several, fuddat, jomlat (a 

number). 
Both {ambo), cilei (classical 

nom. cile). 
Some, ba^S (i.e. a part). 



One — another; bafS- 

man — man. 
Some — others ; ba?£ — ba^i ; 

minhom — minhom; minhe 

— minhe. 
Some (ones), aliquot; cem 

waEud. 
Other, e^kar, /. *okra', pi. 

*ekara, ^ekarien. 
Other (diverse), fair — before 

noun. 

The Eest, el se^ir. 

Several, , 

xette . 



other, ma (after 



Divers, 

Some or 

noun). 



64 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

"Others than he," in classical style, is variously rendered 
by Ma fadahi (what passes him), Ma sewahi (what is on his 
level), and Tairoh, his diverse (?). The roots of 5"ada and 
Sewa mean Inequality and Equality. 

BaftX (not repeated) is also .now used for one another ; but 
it seems, incorrectly. 

It was stated (47) that Man, Ma, may become indefinite ; 
hence the Man— man ; and Keja ma, some hope or other. 
The latter phrase is found in modern literature, and is classi- 
cal. Ereitag renders it qualiscunque. 

75. Tair is regarded as a substantive by grammarians. 
Hence with a suffix, rairhom, others than they; Tairoh, 
other than he; and even absolutely, El fair, some one else, 
thy diverse(?), thy neighbour, in ethical relation, Sewa, Sowa', 
even, like; is ridiculously explained in lexicons to mean, 1. 
The same ; 2. The opposite ; [egal ; meme chose ; autre.] 
Tair xai% quite another thing, a different thing, is stronger 
than Xai^ e^kar, another thing, a second thing. So with the 
negative, Leis ce miGliho fie fair mecen, in no other place is 
anything like it. At the close of a sentence, La fair, la 
fairoh, nothing else, is used dogmatically, for " so, and so 
only." 

§ 8. NUMERALS. 

76. WaEud, /. WaEuda, means one, a single one, alone. So 
we have, WaEdi, I alone; "WaEdec, thou alone; WaEdoh, 
he alone ; "WaEdana, we alone, etc., with all the suffix pro- 
nouns. Let us here repeat : WaEud, one (emphatical), 
follows its noun; as, Eie Eaql waEud, in one field. But, 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AKABIC. 



65 



Fie waEud Eaql, means, — in a certain field. But besides; 
E*Ead, /. TJEda', is one in a pronominal nse ; which may also 
be rendered any one (quisquam, quispiam) ; as, La e^Ead, 
not any ; but "WaEud, some one (aliquis, quidam) ; "Wala 
waEud, not even one (ne unus quidem). 

77. The numerals from 3 to 10 collectively take plural 
nouns, and have the peculiarity that the feminine form 
looks like masculine and the masculine like feminine. The 
numerals from 11 to 19 are contracted in modern speech, 
and have a still shorter vulgar form, which is probably 
destined to become standard. Six is anomalous ; analogy 
requires Sidse. 



1 waEud,/. waEuda. 


11 uEdafxar (Eudafx). 


2 iGnein, /. iGnetein. 


12 iGnaTx(ar). 


3 GeleGe, /. GeleG. 


13 GeleGeta<rx(ar). 


4 arbafa, /. arbaf. 


14 arbaftafx(ar). 


5 kamse, /. kams. 


15 kams'tafx(ar). 


6 sitte, /. sitt. 


16 sittetaxxar (sittafx). 


7 sebfa, /. sebf. 


17 sebfata ( fx(ar). 


8 Gemania, /. Geman. 


18 Gemaniatafxar (Geman- 


9 tisfa, /. tisf. 


tafx). 


1 faxara, /. faxar. 


19 tisTatafx(ar). 


-i nu-Sf. 


-£ sods, pi. esdas. 


i. GolG. 


i. sob 1 ?, pi. esbaf . 


f. GolGein. 


± Gomn, pi. eGman. 


J- robf , pi. arbaf*. 


-i tos¥, pi. etse 1 ?. 


-i koms, pi. akmas. 


-JL. f oxr, pi. afxar. 



66 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 



The final -a, -e, of the masculines from 3 to 10, becomes 
-at, -et, at least before a vowel ; yet I used to hear (I believe), 
Sitte rijal, six men; Sittet *omara, six princes. 

78. Tor the sake of classifying the imperfect plurals of the 
language, the following table may deserve to be committed to 
memoiy. 

TYPES. 

3 suns, GeleG xomous (solar plural) Doroub. 



4 moons, arbafat aqmar (lunar plural) . . . 

5 men, kamse(t) rijal (manly plural) . . . . 

6 princes, sittet ^omara (princely plural) . . . 

7 merchants, seb^a(t) tojjar (mercantile plural). 

8 horses, Gemaniat aK'Suna (dactylic plural) . 
grooms, tisfa(t) golman 
legs, tisf sieqan 

10 cities, faxar modon (short plural) 



(false dual) 



Eswar. 
Cilab. 

Wozera. 

Cotteb. 

Emcina. 

Boldan. 

Nieran. 

Borec. 



Contrary to analogy, the gender of the singular noun is 
remembered in adapting the numeral to its plural. 

79. The remaining cardinals are understood from : 



20 fuxrien. 
30 GeleGien. 
40 arbafuin. 
50 kamsien. 
60 sittien. 
70 sebfuin. 
80 Gemanien. 
90 tis^uin. 
100 mieya. 
1000 *elf,^.elef. 



21 waKud wa fuxrien. 
32 iGnein wa GeleGien. 
43 GeleGe wa arbafuin. 
121 mieya wa waEud wa fuxrien. 
357 GeleG mieya wa sebfa wa kamsien. 
7465 sebf elaf wa arbaf mieya wa 
kamse wa sittien. 
The units always precede the tens, 
and mieya remains singular, against the 
general rule. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN AKABIC. 67 

The cardinal numeral when undefined generally precedes 
its noun, except waKud: but El mrfd el arbaf, the four 
stomachs (Faris). "Thousands," in the plural, is also ex- 
pressible by *01ouf ; but in numeral composition only E^lef 
is employed. 

80. The ordinals follow. Auwal (first) has fern. Oula' ; 
the other feminines are regular. 



2nd Geni(y). 
3rd GeliG. 
4th rabif. 



5 th kamis. 
6th sedis. 
7th sebif. 



8th Gemin. 
9th tesif. 
10th faxir. 



Side by side should stand the days of the week. 



Sunday, yeum el e*Kad. 

Monday, el iGnein. 

Tuesday, el GeleGe. 

Wednesday, el arbaf a. 



Thursday, yeum el kamies. 

Friday, el jonrTa, 

Saturday, ■ el sebet 

(salbath). 



81. The ordinals from 20th to 90th (by tens) are the same 
as cardinals ; so of 100th, 1000th. In composition, first is 
rendered by Eadi; thus, 21st, Eadi wa fuxrien; also 11th, 
Eadi faxar. So from 11th to 19th faxar is added; as 12th, 
m. Geni faxar, /. Geniyat faxara (KB. with double fern, in- 
flexion). And a single article suffices, as El Geni faxar, from 
11th to 19th. But above 20th two articles are used, as, El 
Kadi wa el fuxrien, the 21st (C. de Perceval). [But the old 
fashioned termination -oun supersedes -ten in titles.] 

For ordinals the order rises from the lower to the higher, 
units, tens, hundreds, etc. 

82. The following is from Caussin de Perceval: — "See 
here the order in which numbers above a thousand are ex- 



68 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

pressed. Let us take 3452 : GeleGet e'lef wa arba? mieya, 
wa iGnein wa khamsien. In this the tens are preceded by the 
units. Dates of years are expressed, as with us, by cardinal 
numbers ; yet in that case they take the opposite order — 
units, tens, hundreds, thousands. Thus, The year 1823, is, 
Sene GeleG wa fuxrien wa Geman mieya wa ^elf. No article 
is added to Sene (year), and the numerals of the units must 
be put in the feminine, as agreeing with Sene. For the dates 
of days they generally use cardinal numbers without the 
article, since the name of the month serves for the com- 
plement. Thus : Fie arbafat Eazieran waSalni mectoub, 
teriekoh kams'tefxar Eiyar, on 4 of June reached me a 
letter, its date 15 of May. — Here the numerals are mascu- 
line, because the masculine word yeum, day, is understood." 



§ 9. PLURALS OF NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES. 

83. In Art. 78 eight leading types of the imperfect plural 
were registered. Participles, while used strictly as such, 
make a perfect plural ; masculine in ien (oun), feminine in 
in St. For the first plural type, I place this masculine per- 
fect plural; for the second the perfect feminine. When an 
adjective is used as a substantive, it sometimes employs the 
plural ien for persons, or et for things; thus from Kair 
(Kaiyir), good, Kairat, good things. JSTouns expressing 
tradesmen, of the type QaSSab, butcher; make the plural 
in ien (oun). According to classical rule, final n should drop 
away, if the word become the leading noun of a compound ; 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 69 

but (it seems) the modern tongue retains this n of the plural, 
though it always drops n of the dual ; as, Kabbazien BaCdad, 
the bakers of Bagdad ; but, Kabbazei el Saifa, the two bakers 
of the village, 

84. To the 2nd type of .plurals, in et, dt, belong — 1. Many 
feminines in -a, -e. 2. Gerunds of the derived forms of the 
verb, to be hereafter named. 3. Numerous foreign nouns, 
without regard to gender or termination. 4. Native femi- 
nines in -a\ a; which make plurals in ayet, awet. To the 
last type conform Turkish words in a ; as Paxa, pi. Paxawet ; 
M&,pl. Afawet; Korda, small ware, pi. Kordawet. 5. Nearly 
all Diminutive Nouns, of the form Colaib, a little dog; 
Xowaiya, a little thing ; Mowaiya, a sup of water. 

85. The 3rd type (Josour, Xomous) is extremely preva- 
lent with nouns, but not with adjectives, The commonest 
adjectival type is the 5th (Bijal, Cibar), though the 4th, 6th, 
7th, and 8th are also adjectival. Plural adjectives are rarely 
heard except in concord with rational agents, and especially in 
high style are then appropriate ; as, El dowal el cibar, the 
great Powers ; El wozera el f^am, the chief viziers. But 
in successive pages Earis uses, as if at pleasure, El Eaiwanet 
el cibar wa el SuCar ; El Eaiwanet el cebiera wa el Safiera, 
the animals great and little. 

86. A small number of adjectives form a peculiar plural : 



MarieX, sick, pi. Mar£a\ 
Qatiel, slain, pi. Qatla'. 
JarieE, wounded, pi. JarEa. 
Helic, perishing, pi. Helce'. 



*Esier, captive, pi. *Esra (as 

well as *Osera). 
Haiyit, dead, pi. Maute'. 
AEmaq, silly, pi. Eamqa'. 



70 HANDBOOK OF MODEETT AEABIC. 

87. The plurals of the following nouns are specially 
irregular : 



Father, abou, ab, pi. aba. 
Son, ibn, pi. abna, benie'. 
Brother, akou, ak, pi. aka, 
akwa. 



Mother, omm, pi. ommehet. 
Daughter, Girl, bint, pi. binet. 
Sister, okt, pi. akawet. 
Water, may, pi. miyah, emwah. 

88. We may treat the "short plural," or tenth type, as 
regular, when it preserves the vowels of the singular, merely 
transposing the second ; as, Mille, a religious sect, pi. Milel ; 
Qobba, a vault, cupola, pi. Qobab. But the singular is often 
of the form Qazen, LuEaf, or Mediena; in which case the 
vowels of the plural are o, o ; as, LoEof, Modon. 

89. Allowance must be made for euphony, especially with 
the weak consonants % w, y. Observe that Ce*s, a cup, pi. 
Co'ous ; Ba*s, pi. Bo^ous, are of the third type. Daula, pi. 
Dowal, is of the tenth; Dawal being converted into Dowal 
by the w. 

90. "We proceed to speak of the Modebn Plttkal, which is 
very regular and very important. It applies to all nouns 
which have four or more strong consonants, except when their 
plural is perfect. 

Kandaq, a moat. 
Doldol, a hedgehog. 



Menzil, a lodging. 
Bandar, a naval mart. 
Kinzier, a pig. 



Nomnoma, a wren. 



To form the plural insert d (e) after the second consonant ; 
take a (e) for your first vowel, and i, ie (w, ui) for your last, 
and you have the plurals Menezil, Banadir, Kanezier, Kanadiq, 
Daladil, jSfomanim. If the vowel of the singular preceding 



HANDBOOK OF HODEEJs 1 " ARABIC. 71 

the last consonant be a or ou, it becomes ie in the plural. 
Thus (with accent on last syllable of the plurals) : 

Miklab, a claw, pi. Makalieb. 

Tennour, iron forge, pi. Tenanier. 

XakToura, a barge, pi. Xakatuir. 

Cercedan, rhinoceros, pi. Ceracedien. 

QarqaSoun, polecat, pi. QaraqaMin. 

91, In a large number of nouns *, w, or y are counted as 
true consonants for this process ; especially in those which end 
in i (y), as c Tabsi(y), a metal saucer, pi. G l'abesi(y). So too 
Zeuraq, a shallop, Taital, a great forest ; treated as Zewraq, 
TayTal, make plurals Zewariq, Tayatul. YaEmour, a nyl- 
ghau, ^Usba*?, a finger, Madwad, a manger, similarly give 
plurals YaEamier, *E3abrr, Madawid. In Cowara, a hive or 
comb, Menara, a lighthouse or spire, pi. Cowayir, Menayir, 
perhaps d has been treated as w". Many nouns of the type 
Tadier, a pool, Jeziera, an island, follow this law ; the ie 
being identical with iy ; whence pi. Tadayir, Jezeyir, so 
written in classical books, but, it seems, pronounced Tada-ier, 
Jeze-ier, with accent on the last ; which indeed gives the 
simplest theory, assimilating them to Kanzier, pi. Kanazier. 
Perhaps Cowa-ier, Mena-ier, are also to be thus accented. 

BoEaira, a lake, being a diminutive noun from BaEr, sea, 
should have its plural in et ; but we meet BaEayir (or BaEa- 
ier ?) as the plural. 

92. There is also a large class of nouns with a (<?) in 
the fiest syllable of the singular, in which we must first 
interpret a into a 5 '; next, after deriving hereby the modern 
plural, we must euphonically change a*a or a*e into awa, 
awe. Thus from $ari(y), a mast, pi. Sawari(y) ; Baqiya, 



72 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 

remnant, pi. Bawaqi ; and even *Eniya (*E*niya), a vessel, 
pi. *Eweni. 

93. It is not always possible to foretell when a noun which 
has not so many as four strong consonants will form its plural 
by this law; but when a feminine in -a does not form the 
perfect plural, and is of one of the types Taniema, Menara, 
Eacihe, Kabiya, the strong presumption is that it will take 
the modern plural Tanayim, Menayir, Eawecih, Kawabi. 
Mediena, a city, Sefiena, a ship, beside the old plurals 
Modon, Sofon, of the tenth type, have the modern plurals 
Medayin, Sefayin. 

In some we may be deceived by a noun of unity. Thus, 
Aobaba, a fly, might suggest a plural Aobayib. But it is a 
noun of unity, and Aobab means Elies collectively. 

94. Some words, expressing tradesmen, take the Turkish 
termination -ji; as, Taubji, cannoneer; Bellaurji, dealer in 
fine glass; Bostenji, gardener. AH such make their plurals 
in -jieya. Besides, there is a third form, purely Arabic, in 
-iey (properly the adjective of relation), as Eakouriey, a seller 
of pottery ; Joukiey, a woollen draper ; Soyoufiey, sword 
cutler. "Words of this form, whether substantive or adjective, 
make their only plural in -ieya. 

IsT.B.-— Many nouns take two or more plurals, sometimes 
with a difference of sense ; often one is more old-fashioned or 
of higher style than the other. The English brothers and 
brethren will suffice to impress this. Dictionaries give in- 
discriminately BoKour, AbKar, BiEar, seas ; Toloul, Etlel, 
Tilel, hills, etc. ; and it is often difficult to know which best 
suits the pitch of the style. Modern use will at last fix on 
one as suitable for daily life. 



HANDBOOK OP MODEEN" AKABIC. 73 

§ 10. COMPARATIVES. 

95. In Arabic, as in French, the same word is Comparative 
and Superlative; in fact it has the three senses which we 
express by "Greater, Greatest, Very great." At other times 
they evade the comparative, as, by saying "Great above me," 
for " Greater than I." 

Comparatives are of the type AHsen, Ecbar, but they are 
not declined like the adjectives of Colour, Art. 12. E^kir 
(last) is in sense a superlative, but in form is a participle. 

96. Than after the comparative is expressed by Min ; hence 
after the superlative the partitive Of is generally omitted; 
as, AEsen el kail, the finest (of) the horses. The following 
examples are instructive : 

Lem yabloC, min el fomr, ecGer min arbafuin faman, 

He did not attain, of age, more than forty years. 
MaAe fafalt, ecGer min el e^kar, min el xarr ? 

What did I do, more than the other, of mischief ? 
El kala'S min el Aonoub wa el jarayim hou al^am min el 
kala'S min el belaya, 
Deliverance from faults and offences is grander than de- 
liverance/row miseries. 
AqSa' *er5 MuSr, Furthest (of) the land (of) Egypt. 
Anfaf jemie? el Eaiwanat, wa ajdarhe bil molaEa3a, 

Most useful of all the animals, and most worthy of them 
to be noticed. 
El awwal aqwa' min el Geni, wa el mauloud min homa 
afAalhoma, 
The first (is) stronger than the second, and the progeny 
from the two (is) better than both. — (Earis.) 



74 HANDBOOK OF MODEKN AEABIC. 

El moqatelat se-te^koA hieya afgam min el jidd wa el Eamase, 

The battles will assume a grander mien of earnestness and 

energy. — {Beirout Newspaper, Had. el Ak. ) 

In the last, Min for Of, immediately after the comparative, 
is striking. We might indeed have expected Af^am hieya ; 
so as to bring "hieya min" side by side. Minnoh, Minneho, 
often mean, " than it (is)." Thus : Inna heAe el ieyal, leho 
mixya, axbeh bil herwela, minnehe bil raci", as for this stag, 
to it (is) a gait, liker (more like) to a scamper (amble), than 
it is to a gallop. 

97. The absolute superlative forms a rare feminine, as 
Cobra', very great; 5?05ma', very mighty. Some make a 
plural in -ien, as Aqdamien, very ancient ; AfZ alien, very 
excellent. Others make a substantival plural, of the type 
Ecebir, grandees. 

The superlative is generally indeclinable and may precede 
its noun, as AEsen rajol, best man, very good man. But 
Auwal yeum, the first day, and El yeum el auwal, are alike 
good. Auwal has a feminine *Oula' (comparable to Cobra' ; 
also to *Okra', other) which is used when it follows its femi- 
nine noun ; as, El senet el oula', the first year ; or Auwal 
sene. 

In some other phrases (which apparently imitate Turkish 
idiom) a common adjective precedes its noun and becomes 
indeclinable. The formula, ^aziez cotobcom, your valued 
letters, is often quoted. In Earis (Nat. Hist.) such phrases 
as 'x^uim kiftatoh, his immense swiftness : Ximaliey baHr 
Europa, the North Sea of Europe ; are not seldom met. 
"Whether this is an improvement to the language, or the very 
opposite, learned natives themselves must settle. But with 



handbook: of modern Arabic. 



75 



the superlative the order is normal : as Bi alia' Sautihom, 
with their highest voice. To the same head we must refer, 
Bi e*kir nesmat Eayati, with the last breath of my life. 

98. Many adjectives do not form a comparative of the 
type AEsen ; and their comparative needs to he paraphrased, 
nearly as in English, by Ecbar (greater), EcOar (more), or 
some other familiar comparative, which becomes auxiliary. 
This is ordinarily done by making a noun the complement, as 
in Art. 14. Thus: 

EcGar iktilafan {or tefayyoran), more diverse. 
Ec0ar wojoudan, more as to existence, more numerous. 
Axadd qouwaten, more intense as to strength, stronger. 
Arda' faxmaraten, worse as to fierceness, fiercer. 
But this adverbial case of the noun is not in popular style. 

§11. EELATIVE PKONOUNS. 

99. Relatives in most languages^ are developed 'partly out 
of the interrogatives and partly out of the demonstratives. 
So in Arabic the interrogatives Man, Ma, may be used, not 
only for Who? What? but also for He- who, That-which. 
Nevertheless, in modern style they are limited to the indefinite 
relatives Whoever, Whatever. In this use, Ma may be re- 
garded as leaning on the verb, or on the substitute of the 
verb ; thus, Ma-fat, what is past = the past ; Ma bain, what 
is between; Ma-jara, what has happened; Ma-kala, what is 
vacant ; Ma-qolt, what thou saidest. These cohere as one 
word. In speech, the accent will probably distinguish this 
Ma, from Ma, not ; as, Ma kala, it is not vacant ; Ma qolt, 



76 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

thou didst not say. But, Ma qolt? what didst thou say? 
is pronounced exactly as Ma qolt. This is a grave incon- 
venience, to avoid which, the moderns wisely prefer to use 
MaAe (quidnam) in preference to Ma, quid ? 

100. Compounding Man, Ma with Eiy, which? or Coll, 
all ; we have (with verb Cen, was) : 

Eiyo-man, Eiyoman cen, whatsoever (qui que ce soit). 
Eiyo-ma, Eiyoma cen, whatsoever. 

Eor which last, more vulgarly, Eix' ma, Eix' ma cen. 

Also without Ma, Eiyo becomes relative before a noun, if 
cen follow ; as, Ei eiyo sifr cen, at (any) whatsoever price. 

So Colloman, whosoever; Colloma, whatsoever. Eut Col- 
lama is also adverbial, meaning "However much" (quanto, 
quantum), or, in proportion as. 

101. The pronoun LeAi is relative, and nothing else; but 
unfortunately it must have the article El before it, and, ex- 
cept when it is nominative to the verb, it needs a pronoun 
suffix as complement, whence elaborate confusion. Thus, El 
leAi f araf-oh, means either, Who knew him (qui noverat eum), 
or, Whom he knew (quern noverat). To get the latter sense 
we have to render it, " Who, he knew him," and then imagine 
"Who— him incorporated into Whom. This is one of the 
grave defects of the language; for as soon as a sentence as- 
sumes even moderate complexity, the syntax is apt to be 
highly uncertain. LeAi is declined thus : 



El leAi, le quel. 
El leti, la quelle. 



El leAien, les quelles. 

El lewet(i), Elleti, les quelles. 



There is also a classical dual, Elleten, Elletein, abs. and obi. 



HANDBOOK OP MODEEK AEABIC. 77 

of both genders. Also, ElleAi may be used of both genders 
and numbers, and is vulgarly shortened into Elli. 

The logical complement to LeAi is sometimes placed close 
to it, with much advantage to clearness, when a preposition 
goes with it ; as El leAi bihi, by whom ; El leAi fandoh, with 
whom. LeAi cannot be preceded by a preposition of its own. 

102. El leAi cannot be used when it limits its antecedent, 
but only when the whole antecedent is affected by it : as, 
The man who is present, El rajol, el leAi EaAur. It cannot 
always be used, even when the antecedent has the English 
article The; for instance, after the word All, or with a 
superlative. Thus, " He gave up all the money which he 
had," means, " "Whatsoever of money he had ;" and "what- 
soever" cannot be rendered by El leAi. If we express it by 
Ma, we must transpose, so that Ma may immediately precede 
its verb: thus, " Sellem ma cen liho min el darahim." 
Again : " The first man whom I saw, appears to us fully 
denned ; for it means, " That individual, whom I saw first 
of men," ilium quern primum vidi. Yet (say the gram- 
marians) the relative clause here qualifies the antecedent, 
which is true (so the Latins throw the verb into the sub- 
junctive : primus homo quern yiderim) : on this ground El 
leAi is illegitimate. Yet the adverbial relative Enna (that) 
is here admissible ; Awwal rajol enni ra^eit-oh (the) first man 
{that) I saw (Earis and Rob. Cr.). So Ma is often used after 
the superlative ; as, Hie afkar ma yoSnaf , these (are) the 
finest that are made. 

The pronominal complement to El leAi is not unfrequently 
suppressed (says "Wright) when the sense is clear without it. 
But his examples show great obscurity resulting. 



78 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AKABIC. 

103. El leAi begins its own clause, and can have no noun 
with it. When its antecedent is understood, a preposition 
before El leAi may belong to the antecedent, as, Li el leAi — 
to (the man) who — . "We may then regard El as the pronoun 
him (Li, to ; El, him ; LeAi, who, etc.). But, even when 
the antecedent is expressed, and takes El, the Arabs treat it 
as undefined, if the is changeable into a. Thus, "The man 
who is able," may mean, " A man, Any man who is able;" 
in that case they omit the word Who, or even put the de- 
monstrative Hou (he) for it. 

Thus, in general, pronouns of the third person serve for 
relatives when the antecedent is undefined ; as, 5"andi Sabi, 
leho mar a, in my house is a boy, to whom (is) a disease; 
^andi EuSan, ma hou liya, in my possession (is) a horse, who 
(is) not mine; Dar, fiehe jonaina, a house, in which (is) a 
garden. The simultaneous deficiency of the verb "to be" 
and of the relative is peculiarly unhappy. 

104. An astonishingly barbarous syntax is the use of a 
finite verb for a participle or verbal adjective, the relative 
pronoun being understood before it. Thus, Bajol yobSur, is 
good Arabic for " a man discerns ;" yet it is also grammati- 
cally correct for " a man who discerns, i.e. a discerning man." 
This is especially common with the passive verb to supply 
our verbals in -hie, -ive, -ale, etc. When they are also 
negative, la (not) with the verb almost makes a compound 
adjective. Thus, Belaya la-yoKSa', miseries innumerable (viz. 
which are not counted) ; la-yoflab, invincible. 

105. The adverbial relatives when, where .... must be 
paraphrased, if they have some other antecedent than then, 
there .... Thus, for "The country where I was residing," 



HANDBOOK OF ItODEEN" AKABIC. 79 

you must say, in which: that is, "The country, which (el 
leti) I was residing in it". Again : for "A place where there 
were stones," say, "A place, in it stones," mecen, fiehi Kujar. 

106. In Ma-ceii, noticed above, the verb Cen appears in- 
declinable, but Ma yecoun is also common, as, Eix' ma 
yecoun (Eiyoma yecoun), be it what it may. After super- 
latives we may often render Ma yecoun, by the word possible ; 
as, AKsen ma yecoun, the best possible. 

107. Ma also becomes adverbial in the sense of While, So 
long as ; thus, Ma damt Eaiyan, so long as I remain alive ; 
but Ma-dam, more distinctly expresses the sense While before 
another verb. Ma is otherwise an important element of in- 
declinable relatives; as in Bafdama, after (apres que), Qab- 
lama (avant que, ante quern), Einama, EaiGoma, wheresoever ; 
from prepositions Bafd, Qabl, and from Ein? where? EaiG, 
where. [In modern literature, EaiGoma appears, contrary 
to classical usage, for where, in passages which reject the 
sense wherever. What is gained by this innovation, is not 
clear. It seems a pity to confound EaiG and EaiGoma.] So 
^andama, Waqtima, Euinima, at the moment that, whenever, 
Ceifama, however, ^oulama, as long as. Kay, verbs enter 
such compounds, as, Talama, it is long that, it is long since ; 
Qallama, it is rare that ; CeG'rama, it is frequent that ; but 
these (immediately before another verb) are virtually equiva- 
lent to the adverbs Long ago, Seldom, Often. So with the 
superlatives, Aqallama, (it is) very rare that ; EcG'rama, it 
is very frequent that. 

In place of Ma, sometimes En (that) is found; as, Bafd 
en, after (postquam) ; Ila' en, Eatte' en, until ; EaiG en, in 
case that, before verbs. 



80 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEIST AEABIC. 



§ 12. ELEMENTS OF THE VERB. 

108. "We begin with the verbs, Ijlis, sit thou : Zekrif, 
decorate thou. 

There are three cardinal tenses, the Imperative (mood), tiie 
Aorist, and the Perfect. We omit at present the Dual and 
the Plurals Feminine, which are rarely used. 



pi 





IMPERATIVE 






m.s. ijlis 


/.*. ijlisi 


1 pi. ijlisou 


m.s. zekrif 


' f.s. zekrif 

AOEIST. 


l pi. zekrifou 


1. ajlis 


2. tejlis(i) 


3 m. yejlis 


3/. tejlis 


ozekrif 


tozekrif(i) 


yozekrif 


tozekrif 


1. nejlis 


2, tejlisou(n) 


3. yejlisoun(n) 


nozekrif 


tozekrifou(n) 

PEEEECT. 


yozekrif ou(n) 


1. jelest 


2. jelest (i) 


3 m. jeles 


3/. jeleset 


zekraft 


zekraft(i) 


zekraf 


zekrafet 


1. jelesna 


2. jelestom(ou) 


3. jelesou 




zekrafna 


zekraftom(ou) 


zekrafou 





pi. 



There is no difference in the inflections of the two verbs, 
except that Zekrif takes o for the first letter of its aorist. 
The i in parenthesis for the 2nd pers. sing, denotes the femi- 
nine. N.B. — In old Arabic the perfect singular had final 
vowels, thus, 

1. jelesto; 2 m. jelest^; 3 m. jelest. 

The final vowels may be kept before a suffix ; nay, perhaps 
we can thus distinguish Palafna (we have arrived or attained) 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEST AEABIC. 81 

from Balafa-na (or Bal'fa-na), it has reached us. Earis occa- 
sionally writes the 2nd m. as Jelest^, even without a suffix. 
To retain this final vowel discriminates 2nd person from 1 st, 
and involves no countervailing evil. 

To distinguish the person of Jelest we may add Ana (I) or 
Ente (thou) ; but it is often done more delicately by a suffix, 
if Enna or Lecinna precedes ; as, Enn^c jelest, that thou hast 
sat ; Lecinn* jelest, yet I have sat. 

Knowing the imperative (as Ijlis, Zekrif) we can inflect 
the three tenses as above ; observing, as to the vowels, only 
these simple rules : 

(a.) The vowels of the perfect in the spoken language are 
always " Eathite," as in the Table, in verbs of such type. 

(b.) The last vowel of the aorist is always that of the im- 
perative; the other vowels as in the Table. The last vowel 
may be a, i, o, in a triradical verb, but invariable in the 
quadriradical. 

(c.) If the vowel be a, i, the first vowel of the imperative 
is i; but if o then o: as, Ijlis, sit thou ; Iqtaf, cut thou; 
Okroj, go out ; Orbot, tie, bind. 

The ancient verb distinguished in the aorist two moods by a 
different vowel o a added to the end. But this is totally lost 
and irrecoverable. 

109. The classical dual in 2nd and 3rd person is sometimes 
used. Einal a, 3, is its mark. 

Impee. — 2. ijlise. 

Aoe. — 2. tejlise(n), 3 m.yejlise(n), 3/. tejlise(n), as 2nd pers. 

Peee. — 2. jelestoma, 3 m. jelese, 3/. jeleste. 

The plurals feminine with the old vowels involve much 

6 



82 



HANDBOOK OF 1IODEEN AEABIC. 



confusion. "When now used, it is with, a slight change, 
apparently as follows (-on, for hon, honna, is the element) : 

Ihpee. — 2 f. pi. ijHsn or ijlison. 

Aoe. — 2 f. pi. tejlfsn, tejlison; Sf.pl. yejlisn, yejlison. 

Peef. — 2f. pi. jeleston, 3/. pi. jeleson. 

110. A verb like Mrr {Imperative Morr), with second and 
third radical the same, is called Sued. It has a slight 
irregularity in the modern perfect. 



( marart 
( marrait 

!mararna 
marraina 



perfect. 

marart(i) 
marraiti 
marartom 
marraitom 



marr, 3 m. 



marrat, 3/. 



The forms Marrait, Marraina, etc., hurtfully confound the 
root Mrr with Mry. They will perhaps be driven out by 
cultivation of the language. 

111. "When the second radical is w or y, the verb is called 
Concave or Hollow, as in the Types Qoum, Sier. The aorist 
and imperative have then no irregularity. But in the per- 
fect the long vowels ou, w, are shortened in o, i, before two 
consonants in 1st and 2nd person; making Qomt, Qomti, 
Qomna, Qomtom; Sirt, Sirti, Sirna, Sirtom. Also in the 
3rd person singular and plural the long vowel of both be- 
comes a, e ; Qam, Qamat, Qamou ; Ser, Serat, Serou. The 
popular imperatives Q,oum, Sier, most legitimately supersede 
Qom, Sir, which rest on an exploded law of euphony. 

The two hollow verbs Coun (be), Suir (become), deserve 
chief attention, 



HANDBOOK OP MODERN ARABIC. 



83 



Be thou, Coun, /. Couni, pi. Counou. 



Shall be, 



f 1. Ecoun, 2. Tecoun(i), 3. Yecoun, tecoun. (*.) . 
1. ISTecoun, 2. Tecounou(n), 3. Yecounou(n). (p.) 



(1. Cont, 2. Cont(i), 3. Cen, cenet. (s.) 
(2. Conna, 2. Contom, 3. Cenou. (p.) 
Become thou, Suir, /. Suiri, pi. Suirou. 

Shall | 1. ASuir, 2. TaSuir(i), 3. YaSuir, taSuir. (s.) 
become, ( 1. NaSuir, 2. TaSuirou(n), 3. Ya'Suirou(n). (p.) 

Have i 1. Surfc, 2. Surt(i), 3. $ar, Sarat. 
become, ( 1. Surna, 2. Surtom, 3. Sarou. 
Some hollow verbs have a in the aorist ; as, 



Sleep 
Eear 
Dread 



GERUND. 


IMPER. 


AOR. 


JNaum 

Kauf 

Heiba 


Nam 

Kaf 

Heb 


Enam 
Akaf 
Eheb 



Mmt, Nam 
Kift, Kaf 
Hibt, Heb 



112. The Perfect Tense is (on the whole) best rendered by 
the English " Compound past" or "Present past," as, Jelest, 
I have sat ; but we need to render it " I sat," if the context 
shows historical time to be intended. Also, after In or lAe, 
If it means future perfect ; nearly as in English we say, 
"When you have done, After you have done, for, When you 
shall have done, etc. In this case the verb of response (classi- 
cally) is also in the Perfect, though we render it as Present 
Time. The moderns prefer to say Incen, if and then adopt 
our idiom as to tenses. 

113. The Aorist has immense latitude. Eirst and chiefly, 
it supplies the whole subjunctive mood; but in this sense 
the final n is always dropped from 2nd or 3rd plural. The 



84 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AKABIC. 

particle Li (for) prefixed to the aorist, in good style, suffices 
to make it Hortative, as, Li ejlis ! let me sit ! Li yejlis ! let 
him sit ; and supplies this deficiency of the imperative. On 
the contrary, La (not) with 2nd or 3rd plural in the spoken 
tongue uniformly expresses Prohibition, like Latin Ne with 
subjunctive ; as, La tejlis ! do not sit ! La yesier ! let him 
not proceed! La, Ma, cannot be joined with the imperative. 

114. The aorist is also indicative. After Lem (not) it 
expresses past time ; as, Lem ejlis, I did not sit, I have not 
sat; which is apt to be very perplexing. It may in general 
express Present, Past, or Future, nearly as the Latin present 
tense in poetry, or in vivid narrative and prophecy, the con- 
text alone suggesting the time intended. It is often, simply 
Present, as, Oried, I will, I wish; La oried, Ma oried, I do 
not choose. Lem, La, Len, in classical rule, make the 
aorist Past, Present, Future ; but La yejlis, sitt^A not ; Len 
yejlis, will not sit, shall not sit, appear to be "high style." 

115. To define Future time sharply the simplest method is 
that of prefixing Se to the aorist, which modern literature 
decidedly adopts: as, Se-yejlis, he will sit; Se-yemorr, he 
will pass. This too is perhaps high style. On Auxiliaries we 
shall speak below. Futurity is often denoted beyond question 
by the context ; as, "I go to-morrow," i.e. " I shall go 
to-morrow." 

But again, In lem ejlis, if I shall not have sat, recovers 
for us futurity, as with, In jelest, if I shall have sat. 

116. The participles have little irregularity. They make 
fern. sing, in -a, -e ; m. pi. in -ien, -uin (-oun) ; /. pi. in -et, 
-at. The active participle of the types Ijlis, Ixrab (drink), 



HANDBOOK OP MODEEK ARABIC. 85 

Xien (sully), Loum (blame), is, Jelis, Xarib, Xayin, Layim ; 
the radical w being merged in y in the last. 

The passive of the same types (when the sense admits a 
passive) is Maxroub, drunk up; Maxien, sullied; Maloum 
(for Maxyoun, Malwoum), blamed. The surd verb is regular 
in the passive participle, as, Mesdoud ; but the active par- 
ticiple is generally contracted ; as, Marr for Marir ; Hadd for 
Eadid. The quadriradical verb has participles, act. Mozekrif ; 
pass. Mozekraf. 

117. An active participle, with am, art, is, are, understood, 
supplies the present indicative of the verb. But if the 
nominative be then a pronoun, it must be expressed: as, 
Ana raSu, I am well satisfied; Houa rayiE, he (is) going. 
Also in this use, the plural of the participle is legitimately 
in -oun, rather than -ien ; and even in speech one hears -oun. 
Thus, Hel entom reciboun ? are you riding ? 

118. If the word while is added to a participle in English, 
the Arabs express it by wa hou (and he), or wa horn, wa ana, 
etc. ; in which case also the plural in -oun is preferable. 
Thus, He sleeps while walking, Yenem wa hou maxi. They 
sleep while walking, Yenemou(n) wa horn maxiyowra. 

119. But if wa hou, wa ana, etc., is not inserted, and the 
active participle singular is in apposition to the nominative of 
the verb, it assumes the adverbial state, by adding -an, -en ; 
as, He came riding, Ja reciban ; or, if the participle be plural, 
it will take the form -ien, not -oun ; as, Ja^ou recibien, they 
came riding. 

120. In fact, wa hou, wa ana, etc., with the participle, 
express our while with the verb, even when the preceding 
verb has a different nominative : as, Dakal beiti, wa ana 



86 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 

nayim, he entered my house, while I {was) sleeping ; or with 
the plural, Dakal beitna, wa naEne nayimoun, while we 
(were) sleeping. 

121. The Arab gerund often (like our own) does duty for 
an infinitive; but in the spoken language it is generally 
evaded, as by the modern Greeks, who have replaced it by 
the subjunctive. Thus, for, Dost thou wish to drink water ? 
a Latin might say, Yisne bibas aquam? instead of, Yisne 
bibere aquam? and an Arab says, Hel toried (en) texrab 
may? No word must interpose between En (that) and its 
verb ; hence when En is dropped, the verb (texrab) leads the 
clause. Dost thou wish the boy to go ? is : Hel toried 
yarouK el Sabi ? not, El Sabi yarouK. 

When the student has reached this point in the grammar, 
he is at a stage in which a large mass of the language may 
be picked up. He is recommended to proceed at once to the 
Third Part {Praxis), and turn back only when occasion sug- 
gests, to that which we have to add concerning Grammar. 
In fact,- every learner of any language will be wise to do as 
children do. Let him, with the smallest grammatical appa- 
ratus, accumulate the largest possible acquaintance with 
popular words. Let him combine them as often as possible 
in the simplest ways ; and postpone all intricacies of syntax, 
and all delicate inquiries, until he is very familiar with the 
material. 

§ 13. TYPES OF THE NOUK 

122. Many nouns are derived from verbs, some verbs from 
nouns. We have already observed — 1. A noun of unity, 
ending in -a, -e ; and 2. a diminutive of the types Colaib 



HANDBOOK OP MODERN ARABIC. 87 

(little dog), BoEaira (little sea, lake). 3. A noun of place 
or time has the type of Ma Crab or Ma Crib, the west, place 
or time of sunset : so Maflaf, hayrack ; MaqSab, canebrake ; 
or with feminine ending, Mabtaka, a melon bed ; Mesbafa, a 
place of wild beasts ; from Batuik, melon ; Sebof , wild beast. 
4. The noun of instrument differs from the last in having 
% for its first vowel; it also sometimes elongates its second 
vowel into a. Thus, Minfak, bellows ; Mijmara, brazier ; 
MifteK, key ; Miqlaya, frying pan. Many of these, numbered 
3 and 4, are verbal nouns. 

Abstract nouns may sometimes be regarded either as gerunds 
of verbs, or as related to an adjective ; in some cases the two 
are distinguished by a vowel. 5. The active gerund has 
very often the type KaTf, carrying off; Kalq, creating; Aarb, 
a beating. 6. A noun of unity from this has the type Aarba, 
a single blow. 

7. So Sefar, travelling ; FaraE, rejoicing, gladness. 8. 
Hence the noun of unity, Sefara, a voyage. 

9. The abstract nouns, Cibr, greatness; Cobr, grandeur; 
3ulr, smallness; 36 Cr, contemning, contempt (if indeed this 
vocalization be right), are related to the adjectives Cebier, 
SaCier ; so RokS, cheapness, to RakieS ; Somn, fatness, to 
Semien. Also in the feminine form, Sorfa, quickness, with 
Serief; Bofda, distance, farness, with BaTuid. 10. CiGra, 
plenty, is the abstract to CeBier, much; but this type is 
commonest when the root is surd. Thus, Qilla, deficiency, 
with Qaliel ; Riqqa, thinness, with Eaqieq ; Xidda, intensity, 
withXadied; LiAAe, deliciousness, with LeAieA. 11. From 
hollow verbs come such as ^oul, length, with ^awiel ; and 
in feminine, Jouda, goodness. 



88 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 



12. "With neuter verbs, Jolous (sitting), is a common 
gerundial type. 13. Not less common is the type Sohoula, 
ease, both for abstract nouns and for the gerund of neuter 
verbs. 14. Citeba, writing, is again gerundial. 15. Nearly 
the same is the type Najaba, nobleness, extremely common 
for abstract nouns. 16. RaAiele, vileness, is a somewhat 
rarer type. In El kaziena, the treasury; El Kaliefa, the 
Caliph, it is concrete. 

123. In a tabular view they stand thus : 

Types oe Nouns. 



1. kobz-e 


5. Sarb 


11. toul, Tuib 


2. colaib 
boEaira 

3. ma Crab 
mabtaka 

4. minfak 
miklab 


6. Sarha 

7. sefar 

8. sefara 


jouda 


12. jolous 

13. sohoula 

14. citeba 


9. cibr 
cobr 
sorfa 


mijmara 


10. ciGra 


15. najaba 


miqlaya 


qilla 


16. raAiele 



The commonest gerunds (of the primary "triliteral" verb) 
are of the types NaSr, Jolous, EaraE, Citeba, Sohoule. Of 
these the two last are like our nouns in -tion, and make the 
plural in -it. Of the rest, NaSr is the commonest type for 
active verbs, Jolous and EaraE for neuter verbs. 

124. Special list of abstract nouns of 15th type, related to 
adjectives. 



handbook: op modeen aeabic. 89 



NaEafa, leanness. 
LaTafa, gentleness. 
Seqafa, sickliness. 
Radawa, badness. 
Weseka, dirtiness. 
MelaEa, comeliness. 
Sarafa, elegance, 
rali^a, nncouthness. 
Najaba, nobleness. 



Belada, stupidity. 
Tabawa, doltishness. 
Jehela, ignorance. 
Salaba, solidity. 
5?a5ama, mightiness. 
SeTada, happiness. 
Mehera, skilfulness. 
Ealawa, sweetness. 
Marara, bitterness. 



Frequently there are two forms; as, Lo'tf and Latafa, 
SeTada and Sor'ouda, etc. ; the same thing happens in most 
languages. The Dictionary, and not the Grammar, must 
inform a learner what form of gerund, or of abstract noun, 
is practically current under each root. 

§ 14. AUXILIARY VERBS. 

125. Let is expressed by 'Daf (more classical) or Kalli 
(more popular), prefixed to 1st or 3rd person of the aorist; 
as, 'Daf-ni axrab, let me drink (in Latin, sine me hilam) ; 
Kalli eni axouf, let me see ; Kalliena nexouf, let us see. Xouf 
is a popular verb : more classical is, 'Daf-ni ara', let me 
see. But in good style the mere particle Li suffices to ex- 
press our Let; as, Li yefout, let him pass in. In Syria, 
they use Te as a hortative particle (Latin age), instead of Li ; 
as, Te yarouE, let him go. [I think that Te means come, 
being the imperative of the verb *Ete*, he came. But De 
Perceval interprets it as a contraction of Hatte, until.] 

126. Going is popularly rendered by RayiE, exactly like 
English; but in Barbary they say Maxi, walking. Thus 



90 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 

Earis has, Hel hou rayiE en yojaddid el jidal? Is lie going 
to renew the dispute ? (Lit. en yojaddid, ut renovet, that he 
should renew.) But this use of BayiE is no more in high 
style than is Going in English. 

127. Will, expressing purpose, has many substitutes, all 
of them followed by the aorist, with En (that) often under- 
stood. Chiefly ; Oried, I wish, I will, I choose ; Moradi en, 
(it is) my wish that ; Qa'Sdi en, (it is) my design that ; or, 
Ana qa'Sid, I am designing ; Ana fazim, I am resolving ; 
Ana nawi, I am intending ; Ehomm, I meditate. 

Earis has, Nawi tenitor, (it is) intending to rain, for, it is 
going to rain. 

In Aleppo, Bedd (contracted, it seems, from Bi wedd) is in 
general use. Erom "Wedd, wish, choice, will ; comes Bi 
weddi, (it is) in my will ; Bi weddec, (it is) in thy will, etc. 
Hence they make, 

Beddi arouE, I will go ; Beddec terouE, thou wilt go, etc. 
This is perhaps confined to Syria. If Bi wedd be pronounced 
in full, it must probably be admissible any where ; but the 
Aleppines use it to express Euturity as well as Will or Wish. 

128. Eor mere Ettttteity, nothing is better than the classi- 
cal particle Se- prefixed to the aorist ; which is still living in 
literature. Thus, Se-yarouE, he will go ; Se-narouE, we 
shall go ; Se-tera', thou shalt see. 

At Bagdad, Yecoun (it will be) gives a future notion to 
the verb ; as, Yecoun yarouE, he will go ; Yecoun raE, he 
will have gone. YaSuir, it will be, may be in like manner 
employed ; as, YaSuir temtor, it will rain. 

The verb Ezmaf, he hastened, or rather the participle, 
Mozmif, hastening, is also current, as follows : Hou mozmif 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 91 

yabief, he is hastening to sell, i.e. he is on the point of 
selling. 

129. Can, expressing ability, is rendered by Aqdir, I am 
able ; or Ana qadir ; or Liya qodra en, to me (is) power 
that. Or again, they say, Ana qabil, I am capable; Liya 
qabilieya en, to me (is) capacity that. At Bagdad they say, 
O'Cuiq, or Otuiq fala en, I have force for ; or, Liya taqa en. 
(More ordinarily, with a negative, Ma otuiq, or La taqa liya 
bi*en, means, I have no resisting power ; I cannot withstand 
a disease; I cannot afford an expense.) Literati are fond of 
the strangely obscure word, Estetuil 1 , I am able. "Worst of 
all by far is the idiom of Aleppo, which pronounces Arisen, 
I am able ; apparently meaning OEsin (ivth form), I succeed. 
Thus, I do not succeed to do a thing, means, I cannot. 

For Can, meaning possibility, you may say Yomcin, it is 
possible ; or participle Momcin ; and Emcen, it was possible. 
Negatively, La yomcin, Ma momcin, it is not possible; Lem 
yomcin, it was not possible ; Ma teheyya liya, it was not at 
hand (in promptu) for me ; or again, MoEal, MosteEuil, im- 
possible, absurd. Also, La ya3uEE, it is not sound, virtually 
means, It cannot be. 

It is also in Arabic idiom to say, La telEaq yedi fala en— 
My hand does not reach so far that — . More shortly, Leis 
fie yedi, it is not in my hand, i.e. I am not able. In Syria 
this is cut down into Eieya, it is in me; Ma flee, it is not 
in thee, i.e. I can, thou canst not. 

130. For Mat (of permission) we can use Yejouz, it passes, 
it is permitted ; YaSuEE, it is sound ; YobaE, it is open and 
free. Also the participles Jayiz, MobaE. Or Yesouf liya, it 
is allowed me. 



92 HANDBOOK OF MODEKN AEABIC. 

Paris exhibits the singular ellipsis, Hel liya en — ? is it 
for me that — ? i.e. is it permitted to me that — . So even 
in English, It is not for me to do so and so — (Non meum est 
ut — ). But the omission of the verb " to be," as well as the 
predicate, makes the Arabic ellipsis very harsh. 

131. Ought admits .a like elliptical phrase, ^alaiya en, 
(it rests) on me that. Besides, we can say, Yenbafi, it befits ; 
Yelieq, it beseems; Yejib, it behoves; or Wajib falaiya, (it 
is) a duty on me. Again, YaEaqq f alaiya, it is right for me ; 
YaSuEE liya, it is proper for me ; Yajmol, it is comely, or 
becoming; YaqtaSu, it is required. The most popular of 
these is "Wajib f alaiya. Besides we can use Yelzem, Lezim 
en, though this rather means JSTeed, necessity. 

132. Eor Must, two formulas are highly popular. La bodd 
en, no escape that — ; La bodd (en) terouK, thou must neces- 
sarily go. JN"ext, Lezim, which originally meant, sticking 
close, has somewhat degenerated ; so that they now say, 
Lezimni, it is necessary for me, i.e. I must, or, I want, I 
need. This word is greatly overworked by the vulgar. 

133. The verb Cen (it was) is also auxiliary in Arabic; 
not only to make a passive verb, as in English, but to form 
tenses by its peculiar force of time ; since Yecoun is essentially 
future* 4 and Cen is historical time, i.e. it was, not, it has 
been. Hence we obtain : 



RoEt, I went or have gone. 
Cen roEt, I had gone. 
Yecoun roEt, I shall have 
gone. 



ArouE, I go. 
Cen arouE, 
Cont arouE, 



Yecoun arouE, I shall go, I 
I am to go. 

So De Perceval positively asserts ; and it seems, with great reason. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 93 

1335. We can hardly class as auxiliary the verbs which 
express to begin, before another verb. These are Ebdi, I 
open ; E*koA, I take ; Aj^al, I set, set to ; Axraf, I insti- 
tute ; ATfoq, I establish ; A$uir, I become. All drop a 
part of their sense to assume the meaning of Begin: the 
commonest is Ebtedi (in vinth form, see 136), whence Ibteda, 
Mobteda, a beginning. These verbs are followed by Enna 
(that, quod, ore) with the aorist Indicative of the other verb ; 
not by En (ut, Xva) with subjunctive ; apparently because an 
attained result, not a mere intention, is expressed. Thus, 
The sailors began to howl, Jafalou el mellaEoun yowelwiloww ; 
Ibtedou or $arou yaSrokoww, they began to shout. It is here 
seen that the particle Enna (that) is readily dropped from the 
phrase. 

Cen roEt or Cont roEt, also supplies, I should have gone ; 
and Cen arouE (Cont arouE), I should go; under a non- 
existing hypothesis. The double compounds, Cen yecoun 
arouE, I was to go, and Cen yecoun roEt, I was to have gone, 
are perhaps peculiar to Bagdad; as, Beddi arouE, I am to 
go ; Cen beddi arouE, or rather Cont beddi arouE, I was to 
go ; are Syrian. 



§ 15. CLASSES OF THE VERB. 

134. Quadriradical verbs, such as Zekrif, have their vowels 
all fixed, and in the modern language scarcely go beyond 
the two following Forms, typified by the Imperatives zekrif, 
tezekraf. 



94 



HANDBOOK OP MODERN AEABIC. 



Form. 


i. 


n. 


Imperative 


zekrif 


tezekraf 


Aorist 1 p. s. 


ozekrif 


etezekraf 


Perfect 3 p. s. 


zekraf 


tezekraf 


Gerund 


zikraf 


tezekrof 


Participle act. 


mozekrif 


motezekrif 


Participle pass. 


mozekraf 


[niotezekraf ] ? 



The learner must use this and such like tables for reference, 
when he meets with a verb of such a class. Until the case 
occurs, he will not be able to use the table to advantage. 
The two "forms" are often comparable to what we call 
Voices in Latin and Greek. In fact the n nd is ordinarily 
either like a Passive or a Reflective (" middle") voice to the 
I st * In that case there cannot be any passive participle to 
the n nd form. But the n nd form may be an independent 
verb. Older Arabic admits of a ni rd form izkawrif, and a 
iv tla izkarfif. 

135. Triradical verbs have more numerous forms. Even 
in the spoken language ten must be counted, though no one 
verbal root possesses them all. To exhibit the types, it is 
expedient to form all from a single root, as if they all ex- 
isted. The root Bdl, imperative Ibdil (exchange) may repre- 
sent all the types. In the classical tongue every form except 
the ixth has its passive distinct from its active ; but we 
confine ourselves to the passive of the first form. The active 
first form alone has the vowel of the aorist doubtful, as also 
the form of the gerund doubtful, as stated in 1085, 122. Its 



HANDBOOK OP MODERN ABABIC. 



95 



active participle is also peculiar, not being formed by initial 
m. Any of the forms may have a passive participle, even 
in the spoken language, if the sense of the form itself be 
that of an active verb. Only the ix th form is always a nenter 
verb, and can have no passive. 

"When there is a passive participle, it is formed from the 
active participle (in all forms but the I st ) exactly as in the 
quadriradicals, by changing i of the last syllable into a. 
(This i might be u, if a coarse consonant were in juxta- 
position.) 

136. Scheme of the Ten Eorms of the Triradical Yerb : 





Imperat. 


Aor. 1 p. s. 


Perf. 3p.s. 


Gerund. 


Participle. 


I. 


ibdil 


abdil 


badal 


(badal) 


bi-dil 


Pass. 





obdal 


bodil - 





mabdoul 


("' 


baddil 


obaddil 


baddal 


tebdiel(a) 


mobaddil 


u 


badil 


obadil 


badal 


| bidal ) 
\ mobadala j 


mob§,dil 


IV. 


abdil 


obdil 


abdal 


ibdal 


mobdil 


f v - 


tebaddal 


etebaddal 


tebaddal 


tebaddol 


motebaddil 


in. 


tebadal 


etebadal 


tebadal 


tebadol 


motebadil 


VII. 


inbadil 


anbadil 


inbadal 


inbidal 


monbadil 


VIII. 


ibtedil 


abtedil 


ibtedal 


ibtidal 


mobtedil 


IX. 


ibdall 


abdall 


ibdaU 


ibdilal 


mobdill 


X. 


istebdil 


estebdil 


istebdal 


istibdal 


mostebdil 



96 HANDBOOK OF MODEEK ABABIC. 

The t due to the Yin th form becomes d after d or z, a 
after a, 1 after % a, 5, 5. Also if *, w, or y, be the first 
radical it becomes t before £ in the vrn th - Thus the root 
"Wcl makes Ittecil (for Iwtecil) in yiii. 

137. All the gerunds of the derived forms make plural in 
-St. The gerund of n. might be tebdiela or tebdila, instead 
of tebdiel, which is standard. In in. mobadala is a com- 
moner form than bidal ; but both often co-exist. 

It will be seen that hi. is formed from 11., and yi. from v. 
(except in the gerund) by the same simple law. After duly 
understanding this we might drop in. and vi. from the Table. 
Forms vn. and yiii. are likewise formed by a common law ; 
so that either will suffice as a type. 

Form x. is remarkable, ist being prefixed to the root. This 
is explained completely from Coptic, from Zouave, from 
Assyrian, and from certain traces in Chaldee or Hebrew. 
A form is in fact lost, whose Imperative was Sebdil ; and 
from this Istebdil was formed, nearly as yiii. from 1. The 
form Sebdil was a Causative verb, but it is superseded by rv. 

The tenses are inflected according to the laws explained in 
108. Carefully note the initial in the aorist of 11., in., iv. 
Observe also that the last vowel is i in the imperative (and 
aorist) of 11., el, iv., vn., yiii., x., but is a in v., vr., ix. 
Yet in the participle active of all the forms it is i. 

138. Any two forms, as Ibdil and Badil, are strictly in- 
dependent verbs, as in Latin fugio and fugo, or sedeo, sido, 
sedo. In fact sometimes they are as unlike in sense as fero 
and ferio, condo and condio. Such phenomena are very de- 
ceptive. It is always safest for the learner to learn nearly 
every form for itself, as if it were a new verb. 



HANDBOOK OF MODEBJS" ARABIC. 97 

Nevertheless, the II nd or ni rd being given active verbs, we 
can positively infer the existence and meaning of the v th or 
vi th ; for the V th always is to the n nd and the VI th to the in rd 
its reflective, neuter, or passive. The vn th , when it exists, 
is passive to the I st , if the I st be active ; or else to the IV th . 

The iv th is properly causative to the I st . Hence if the I st 
be neuter the rv tlx is its active. If the I st be active the iv tk 
has two accusatives. 

The vni th is comparable to the Greek middle voice, in 
relation to the I st , and often supersedes the I st arbitrarily. 
In other instances it serves as a true passive to the I st . 

The n nd is (perhaps most properly) frequentative or in- 
tensive of the I st ; as, Iqta*?, cut ; Qat^uf , cut in pieces, chop 
up ; Icsir, break ; Cessir, break in pieces. But it is often 
causative to the I st , and the modern tendency is to work it 
entirely in this direction, and nearly supersede the iv th ; 
apparently because vowels are obscurely and corruptly 
sounded. Yet even when n. and iv. are both causative, the 
sense sometimes differs, because n. is still frequentative and 
imperfect. Thus from the root TMam, know thou, comes 
ii. 5>allim, teach thou (as a teacher who repeats or causes to 
repeat); but iv. A'rlim, inform, advertize, viz., by a complete 
single act. 

The in rd is often related to the primitive, as a Latin verb 
compounded with Con. It almost always governs an accusa- 
tive, and the syntax differs from that of the I st . Something 
mutual is ordinarily suggested, often rivalry. Thus, Ectob 
lee, I write to thee, Ocetib-ec, I he-write thee ; Aqfod, I sit, 
Oqa'rud-ec, I sit- with thee; but OqTud-ec, Oqaffud-ec, I 
seat thee. 

7 



98 HANDBOOK OP MODERN ARABIC. 

The ix th is comparable to a Latin inceptive verb in -esco, 
and is especially nsed for verbs of Colonr, as erubesco, 
nigresco. 

The x th often expresses Desire (like a verb in -urio). It 
also expresses a Judgment; as, I judge a thing small, or 
great. But sometimes it is a mere neuter verb, — it may be, 
with a very obscure relation of sense to the primitive : as, 
Istemarr, he persevered; Istetaf, he was able (from root 
Tw^) ; Isteqall, he was plenipotentiary, unrestricted, in- 
dependent. 

The vi* 11 often expresses Pretension or Affectation: as, 
Tebaha, he made display of finery ; Tefakar, he played the 
self-glorifier. 

The relation of the v th and vi tTl to the n nd and m rd is ob- 
viously the same as that of the n nd to the I st of Quadri- 
radicals. Also the in rd and IV th of Quadriradicals are 
analogous to the vn th and ix th of Triradicals. 

139. By means of these derived forms, the language is at 
no loss to express the Passive idea. It is not wonderful 
then, that the vocalized Passives have almost vanished out 
of the spoken language. None of them had any Imperative 
or any Gerund. The Aorist was formed by vowels o, a ; the 
Perfect by vowels o, i. The vocalized Passive of i. is heard 
popularly in a few words ; indeed, is used freely by the 
newspapers in very unpretending and business-like relations ; 
hence it may be inferred that it will be quite recovered with 
the progress of literary cultivation. Thus from Octob, write ; 
Oqtol, kill ; come passives Cotib, Qotil ; Tocteb, Yoqtel. 

"When the viii th is active, it sometimes takes a vocalized 
passive : thus from Intekib, elect thou ; Ontokib, he was 



HANDBOOK OE MODERN ARABIC. 



99 



elected; Ontekab, I am elected (eligor). Here the Perfect 
o, o, i; the Aorist o, e, a. 
The Passive of hi. changes d of the Perfect active into ou. 



§ 16. DEGENERATE VERBS. 

140. Triradical verbs degenerate when the second and third 
radical are the same, or when one or more radical is weak ; 
that is, when it is * w, or y. 

"We have seen that the participle of the Surd verb under- 
goes contraction ; as Marr for Marir, Xadd for Xadid. A 
similar contraction occurs in the in vd and vi th forms, but not 
in the Imperative. Nor indeed can such contraction apply 
in the Gerund xiddd of in. The forms n. and v. follow the 
standard of Ibdil perfectly ; so do the imperatives of all 
forms but i. and x. But it is worth while to present a 
nearly full table. The words in Italics follow the law of 
Ibdil. No Surd verb has a ix th form. 





Imper. 


Aorist. 


Perfect. 


Gerund. 


Participle. 


I. 


xodd 


axodd 


xadd 


(xadd) 


xadd 


III. 


xadid 


oxadd 


xadd 


( xiddd ) 
\ mox&da j 


moxadd 


IV. 


axdid 


oxidd 


axadd 


ixdud 


moxidd 


VI. 


texddad 


etexadd 


texadd 


tex&dd 


motexadd 


VII. 


inxddid 


anxadd 


inxadd 


inxidud 


mouxadd 


VIII. 


ixtedid 


axtedd 


ixtedd 


ixtiddd 


moxtedd 


X. 


istexidd 


estexidd 


istexadd 


istixddd 


mostexidd 



100 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 



The only Passive Participles are the types Maxdoud of i. 
and Mostexadd of x. 

141. Hollow verbs are quite regular in n., in., v., vi., ix» 
(There is one such verb in ix. from the root Eswadd, black ; 
hence Moswidd, nigrescens.) Some are regular in iv. as 
YoKwij, he necessitates. "We saw in the Participle of i. the 
verb " hollow by w" assume y instead; the same takes place 
in the Passive of i. except the participle, and in iv., vn., 
vin., x. Thus when a verb in one of these forms is given, 
we cannot tell by its aspect whether the root has w or y. 
The types stand thus : from root Qwl. 





Imper. 


Aorist 1. 


Perf. 3. 


Gerund. 


Partic. 


i. Pass. 





oqal 


qiel 





maqoul 


IV. 


aqiel 


oqiel 


aqal 


iqala 


moqiel 


VII. 


inqal 


anqal 


inqal 


inqiyal 


monqal 


VIII. 


iqtel 


aqtel 


iqtel 


iqtiyal 


moqtel 


X. 


isteqiel 


esteqiel 


isteqal 


istiqala 


mosteqiel 



The feminine form of the Gerund in rv. and x. deserves 
remark. 

142. "When the 1st radical is w or y, the verbs are called 
Assimilated. If the verb be y, the verb in modern use is all 
but regular ; only after o the y becomes u. If the first 
radical be w, this letter is dropped in the Aorist, according 
to the best style ; as, Wejed, he found ; Ej id, I find. But 
Sard verbs of this class treat wasa strong radical, as Awodd, 
I love. We have also said that in vrn. the wt becomes tt. 



HANDBOOK OP MODERN ARABIC. 



101 



143. When the 3rd radical is w or y, the verbs are called 
Defective. They are of four classes, as follows : 



1 Aor. 
3 Perf. 



1. afzou 
Caze 



maraud 



2. armi 
rama' 



throw 



3. anse' 
nesi 



forget 



4. arfa' 



feed cattle 



of which the 1st is defective in w, the rest in y. 

In the 2nd and 3rd pi. of Aorist, and pi. of Imperative, w 
or y is clipped out : though in Barbary they say, Termiyou, 
Yermiyou, for the normal Termou, Yermou. 

The perfects are slightly irregular. 



1. 2. 


Tazeut 


Ramait 


Nesiet 


Rafait, 


3. 


Taze, -et 


Rama, -met 


Nesi,- siyet 


etc. 


1. pi. 


Tazeuna 


Ramaina 


Nesiena 


as Eama 


2. 


Tazeutom 


Eamaitom 


jSTesietom 




3. 


Tazeu 


Ramau 


Nesou 





The Active participle is in all of the type Tazi(y). 

The Passive Participle is Mafzouw, for 1, and Mermiey 
for 2, 3, 4. 

Yerbs defective in w are few ; and in modern use they all 
tend to supersede w by y. In all the derived forms this is 
done. Otherwise, these forms have no irregularity, but that 
y falls away after a, and o becomes i before y. Thus in the 
Gerund of v., Terammi(y) for Terammoy. Also, as usual, 
-dya replaces -d^a in feminine participles passive. 

A suffix, by changing the accent, introduces d, e, for a, e y 
in 3rd person masculine singular of the perfect. 



102 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 

144. Of verbs "Hamzated" in 1st radical, *ekaA (take) is 
the type. In Imperative of i., initial i or o is dropped 
(with *) ; as Koa, take thou ; Mor, command ; Col, eat thou. 
After o the * becomes w, as, TowakiA, for TowakiA (reprove) ; 
hence, vulgarly, in the whole form the % is apt to become tv. 

Surd verbs of this class take w for * in their aorist ; as, 
*Enn, he groaned ; Aor. Awinn. Indeed in modern use w has 
displaced A in the whole root *Ejj (catch fire, flame out) ; as, 
"Wejj, Aor. Yawijj ; and Wejja, a blaze. 

145. "When Hamze is 2nd radical, as in Is^el (ask), the 
participle is Meswoul for Mes^oul, a microscopic difference. 
The only derived form of this whole class (says C. de Per- 
ceval) is seyal of in. 

146. "When Hamze is 3rd radical, the only irregularities 
are such as obvious euphony suggests. But in popular use 
these verbs merge their * in y. 

147. Yerbs doubly defective are chiefly the following: 

a. Ja, he came ; Eji, I come (Tefal, come thou !). — Perf. 
Jiet, I came; Jat, she came; Ja^ou, they came; Jayi, 
coming ; Mejie, arrival. — Pass, jie, ventum est. 

h. *Ete, he came ; ^Etet, she came ; Eteit, I came ; Etou, 
they came ; Eti, I come ; Yetou, they come ; Eti, 
coming; Itiyan, arrival. VE t]1 form, Terete. Impera- 
tive Te* (come). 

c. Xa% he wished ; Xat, she wished ; Xiet, I wished ; Xa'ou, 

they wished ; Yexa, he wishes. 

d. Sa*, he misbehaved; 1. 2. p. Sout. In iv. Esa, he mis- 

managed; Aor. Osie. 

e. ^Aba% he refused ; like ^Ete 5 ". 

/. *Eyes, he despaired ; Aor. E*wies ? 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN - AEABIC. 103 

g. Ea*a, lie saw ; Ba^et, she saw ; Ba'eit, I saw ; Ea^ou, 

they saw. Ara', I see; Arou, they see. Ba, see thou. 

Passive, Bo*i, it was seen ; Aor. Yora, it seems, is seen. 

it. Orie, I show : Arie, show thou (vulg. Arwi, Eawwi). 

v. Tera^a liya, it appeared to me, but more popularly, 

Terawa. in. Baya, he played the hypocrite (made a 

show). 

^Ete 5 " and Ea*a are both popular words, but not in the 

physical sense, in which Ja and Xaf supersede them. ^Ete* 

means, to come as an event; part. El *eti, the future, ven- 

turus. Ea^a means, he saw with the mind, he judged (Bay, 

opinion), he saw a vision (Eouya, vision). Thus, In ra^eit, 

if you shall have seen (it good). 



148. The inability to compound verbs with prepositions is 
a grave defect in Arabic. In part they supply it by the 
creation of new roots, in part by detached prepositions (which 
nevertheless cannot enter derivatives), and in part by a rather 
arbitrary use of the derived forms. We have seen that the 
ni Td is often like a Latin compound of Con ; this is but a hint 
at the practice. The vn th is sometimes like a Latin compound 
of Ee ; and so of others. 

Let an Englishman reflect on some of our own verbs, as, 
Bring up ; which, for secondary meanings, has Eear or Edu- 
cate, Yomit, and (popularly) Pull up, Eein up suddenly, 
Bring to a sudden stop. If we met some Arabic root in- 
terpreted in a dictionary, 1. Educate, 2. Yomit, 3. Check a 
horse, we might think it a monstrosity. This will suffice to 



104 HANDBOOK OP MODERN AEABIC. 

indicate how an injudicious lexicographer increases difficulty. 
In fact, the pupil should, if possible, confine himself for a 
while to the primary cardinal senses. 

149. We are accustomed to form a Passive Participle even 
from a verb which has a detached preposition ; as, from " I 
allude to a thing," "the thing alluded UP • The Arabs seem 
to aim at, but miss, this idiom. They cannot bear the pre- 
position isolated ; hence they attach to it a superfluous pro- 
noun suffix, in defiance (it might seem) of logic. Thus, from 
Oumi ileihi, I hint at it (nod to it) ; they get, El xai 5 " el 
mouma ilei^', the thing hinted at. This pervades the language. 

We may partially explain it by the analogy of the Latin 
impersonal use of the Passive verb ; especially since the par- 
ticiple in this idiom has no concord with the preceding noun. 
Thus, " The slaves above mentioned," "The slaves spoken 
of," El fabied el maqoul f anhom ; not, maqouloun or maqoula, 
though babied is plural. The concord to babied is found in 
the plural horn ; and Maqoul is impersonal, like Latin Dictum 
(est) for Diximus. Thus a rude translation might be, 01 
servi ol — dicebatur de iis; i.e. Ol servi, de quihus dicebatur. 
And in this idiom the second El is often said to be put for 
ElleAi, who. In fact, the vocalized passive is occasionally 
used like the Latin impersonal verb. 

5 17. ADVEEBS AND CONJUNCTIONS. 



150. Adverbs of Time : 
Afterwards, baf dan ; pop. 

bafdoh. 
Again, ai£an (see also 153). 



Already, qad (with Perfect 

only). 
Always, dayiman. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 



105 



Before {adv.) qablan 
Beforehand, min qabl. 
Daily, yeum bi yeum; yeu- 

man fa yeuman. 
Early, beccier. 
Earlier and later, sebiqan 

va laEuqan. 
Ever (with negative), *eba- 

dan. 
Eor ever, ila el *ebad. 
Eormerly, sebiqan. 
Henceforward, min bafdoh; 

min ePan wa Safudan. 
Hereafter, senf. 
Hitherto, ila ePen. 
Instantly, Ealan, fil Eal, fil 

sefa, lil waqt, fil Euin. 
Lately, fan qarieb[also Soon]. 
Long ago, talama (it is long 

ago that). 
No longer (see 153). 
Meanwhile, fil eOna. 
Now, ePen ; heAe el waqt ; 

heAe el sefa. 
Now and then (at times ; 

occasionally), aEyanan ; 

Euin fa Euin. 
Just now, tewa (a little while 

ago, Alep.) ; bi heAe el 

qorb. 



Often, amrar ce0iera ; coll 

qaliel; ceB'rama (it is 

often that). 
Yery often, ecGarma. 
How often ? cem marra ? 
Once, marraten ; marraten 

ma ; marra waEuda. 
Presently, in a minute, mar- 
rat *okra\ 
Barely, nadiran ; zehiedan ? 
Quickly, fajilan; seriefan. 
Seldom, qallama (it is seldom 

that). 
Sometimes, aEyanan; auqat 

auqat; baf£ auqat. 
Sometimes — Sometimes ; 

marraten — marraten ; 

teraten — teraten. 
Soon, fan qarieb [also, 

Lately] ; laEuqan, Kaz. (?). 
Still, bafdoh (vulg.?); HI 

sefa (see also 153). 
Then (at that time), iAAec ; 

waqta^iAin ; Euina^iAin, 

yeuma^iAin. 
To-day, elyeum. 
To-morrow, fadan. 
Yesterday, *ems. 
Not yet, lil sefa ma — lil 

sefa la — . 



106 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 



151. Adverbs of Quantity : 
Almost, ilia qaliel, ced (see 

153). 
Barely, (bi) mojarrad. 
Enough, cefaya(ten). 
Entirely, bil collieya. 
Eew, qaliel(oun). 
Gradually, tedriejan, tuba- 

qan ^an Tubaq. 
Little, qaliel. 
A little, xowaiya. 
Little by little, xai^an fa 

xai^an. 
Less, aqall. 
In the least, adna' xai* (the 

slightest thing). 

152. Conjunctions governing 
According as, ) cema, 
As, ; miGlima. 
As if, ce^enna. 
Although, | wa^in, walau, 
Though, ) mat en. 
Because, li^enna; bi sebab 

enna ; li^ejl enna. 
Before (antequam), qablama. 
Not but that, nafam enna. 
Not but that, ilia inna (also, 

Nevertheless; in Earis). 



cem r 



Many, ceGier(oun). 

Much, ceGier. 

How much ? 

How many ? 

How much ? qadd eix' ? 

More, ecGar. 

Nearly, teqrieban. 

Only, faqat (vulg. bes). • 

Scantily, Zanien? (Bocthor; 

guere). 
Scarcely, ceudan? bil jehd; 

bilceid? (See 153). 
Somewhat, xaPen. 
Somewhere about, qadar. 
Totally, qatuba(ten). 

Yerbs : 
In case,^ bi EaiG(en). [Bi 

EaiG ceAe, in- such a case 

as this.] 
On condition that, fala en, 

bi xart en. 
Except that, 
Only that, 
Eorasmuch as, EaiG inna ; 

iA enna (iA inna ?) Rob. 

Cr. 244. 
Inasmuch as, bi ma inna. 



fair enna. 



Kazimirski says, Bi EaiG en, a tel point que. 



HANDBOOK OE MODEEIT AEABIC. 



107 



On the ground that (as 

though), fala enna. 
However (quocunque modo), 

ceifama. 
How much soever, mehma. 
How often soever, collama, 

mehma. 
[However, adv. = Howbeit, 

be it as it may,ceifamacen.] 
If, in, incen, iAe ; lau (were 

it that). 
If ever, iAma. 
Lest, li^ella, liceila. 
As long as, madam, 'toulima, 

ma. 
As much as, qaddama. 
Insomuch that, fala enna, 

bi nauf Eatte, (in sort 

that). 
that, ya laite. 
In proportion as, collima, 

qaddima, Easbima, qad- 

rima. 
In respect that, min EaiG 

enna. 
Seeing that, Since, na5aran 



Ever since, mouA, moAA. 
As soon as, Tandama, auwal 

ma, Ealima, waqtima, 

Euinima. 
That (ut, ha), en. 
That (otl, quod), enna. 
So that, Eatte' *inna; fala 

enna. 
In that, fie *enna. 
In order that, li, cei, licei, 

Eatte. 
That not (ut ne, ha \xrj), 

ella, ceila. 
Till, Until, Eatte, Eatte en. 
Unless, ilia, iAlem. 
Unless it were that, laula. 
When, lemma, iA, iAe ma 

(mete' ?). 
Whenever, iAma. [Be it 

when it may, iA ma cen.] 
"Where, EaiG. 
Whereas, Eal inna. 
Wherever, Eai0oma, einama. 
Whilst, bainama, fandama, 

madam (bima), b'iAma, 

fiema. 



en, iAecen, lemmacen. 

153. There is a tendency of the language (shared by 
Hebrew) to express adverbs of time by verbs ; as, by saying, 
" He repeated to go," instead of, " He went again." Thus : 



108 HANDBOOK OF JIODEEN AKABIC. 

1. Ma fad, he did not repeat, degenerated into "not again.' 5 
La teToud tefral-he, do not do it again. 

2. " No longer" is expressed by the verb Baqi (it remained 
over, continued) which changes with the person. Thus: I 
no longer visit him, ma baqiet ozeyiroh; or, ma abqa fie 
mozeyiratoh. 

3. For Almost, it is classical to use Ced. Thus, They 
almost touch one another, cedou yetemassou ; where Ced is 
rendered, "he failed narrowly." 

4. Paris employs this verb with the negative for Scarcely : 
La yeced toujad, (the one humped camel) is scarcely found. 
But Bocthor and Catafago take no notice of Ced. Preytag 
and Kazimirski give it just opposite senses, though both agree 
that Wala ceudan (not even scarcely) means not at all. The 
language needs a word for " scarcely;" Bil jehd, by effort, is 
not always appropriate. Whether Bocthor's word Aanien 
can be often used is not at all clear. In the "Algiers Mer- 
cury" I read, "Bil ceid Eatte qaTaf mesefet miel wa nu*Sf," 
he hardly even traversed the distance of a mile and a half. 
Perhaps bil ceud was intended. 

5. "We constantly say, "He continues to work," for, "he is 
still working." So the Arabs have, Ma zel (he has not 
ceased = Lem yezel) with the Adverbial participle, for Still, 
or with the aorist. This is both popular and classical. 
Bafdoh for " still" (as, Ba^eit el celb, bafdoh Eaiyan, Bob. 
Crusoe, I saw the dog, still alive), though popular, is hard to 
defend. De Perceval calls it Maronite Arabic. 

6. Por "he rises early," "come early to me," they may 
use the verb Beccir (n.), to be early at a thing. Kazimirski 



HANDBOOK OP MODEBJS" AEABIC. 109 

has Beecirou, for, they were too early (at the evening prayer), 
which shows the verh not to be confined to the morning. 

The classical language has many curious verbs that imply 
time ; as, RouE, go in the evening, Isri, travel by night, 
Ob cor, do something early, etc. ; but the sense of these is 
now modified. 

§ 18. ANCIENT CASES OF THE NOUN. 

154. The ancient Noun had three possible Cases, which I 
venture to call the Absolute, the Postpositive, and the Ad- 
verbial Cases. (To name them Nominative, Genitive, and 
Accusative, suggests false ideas to a Western learner.) Duals, 
plurals in -oun, and certain adjectives, had but two cases, 
which may be called Absolute and Oblique. "We will speak 
of these last first. 

In the Dual the Absolute is in -an, -en, the Oblique in 
-ain, -ein. 

In the Perfect Plural, the Absolute is in -oun, -oun, the 
Oblique in -ien, -uin. 

In the modern language the forms in -an, -oun, are almost 
confined to the simple predicate which has no copula expressed 
(see 117-120), and even there is not insisted on. The form 
in -an, -oun, is also used in careful style for a direct nomi- 
native {i.e. subject of a verb), when it is not affected by any 
introductory particle. 

155. The three cases are marked by the inflexions -on, -in, 
-en {-an), when the noun is undefined; but these are never 
written in the text. Moreover, if the noun be defined the n 
falls away ; leaving only -o, -i, -e {-a). It is impossible for 



110 HANDBOOK OP MODEEN ABABIC. 

the modern tongue to retain these ; for the final -o at once 
suggests the sense -oh (his), and final -i the sense (my), ex- 
cept indeed another suffix be attached, which begins with a 
consonant. Thus we can without inconvenience say, Bilado- 
com, Biladi-com, Bilada-com. But this being limited to the 
suffixes -M, -com,, -horn, is not worth while to retain, or at 
least, as a fact, has not been retained. Whether it is worth 
while to struggle for Li biladi-com, as better than Li bilad- 
com, or Li bilada-com, is evidently an unsettled question 
with Paris and Catafago. The learner has at present a right 
to ignore the -o, -i, -a, entirely. 

156. The inflexion -on also (it seems) is confined to poetry 
and ancient style. The rules of grammar concerning -on and 
-an are so complex and so arbitrary, that, once lost, they are 
of necessity irrecoverable by a nation. As they never con- 
duce to perspicuity or any imaginable good, we have a right 
to rejoice that they are dead. [If they are still retained 
among the "Wahabees, as Mr. Palgrave seems to say, that will 
not lead to their renewed use elsewhere.] 

157. The Postpositive Case was assumed by a noun, chiefly, 
1. After a preposition. 2. After an adjective, or pronoun 
adjective, preceding its noun. 3. After another noun with 
which it is in composition. In the last it is like the Latin 
genitive ; in the second it is monstrously unlike. In Art. 31 
it was remarked that Aou t aql, intelligent, after Tair, passes 
into Tair Aie f aql. Here Aie is the Postpositive Case of aou. 
Such an idiom is now exceptional. The only general question 
in the modern dialect is, whether at all to retain -i, -in, after 
a preposition. To IVIin bilad«-com, and such like, allusion has 
been made. In phrases which are equivalent to an adverb, 



HANDBOOK OP HODEBtf AKABIC. Ill 

the termination -in is not certainly quite dead. Catafago's 
Dictionary (at least in the Anglo- Arabic part) may be said to 
represent modern mercantile Arabic; and he has many such 
phrases as the following, — the noun being undefined : 
Intentionally, bi qaSdm. ] Grievously, bi colli fammw. 

Impetuously, bi xiddatm. Incautiously, bi colli Gaflatm. 

"When two nouns following an adverb are joined by wa, he 
generally adds in to the former only : 
Sluggishly, bi coll(i) ceselw wa ihmal. 

Stingily, bi coll(i) tamaftw wa bokl. (Yet elsewhere, bi coll 
Tamaf. Also : Intently, bi coll(i) jaddw wa jehdw. 

When the noun is followed by an adjective, he generally 
adds -in to the noun alone. Thus : 

Signally, bi wejlrm mexhour. 

In a happy hour, bi sef atm mesToudat. 

Perhaps these are mere attempts of merchants to read 
Arabic like scholars. I cannot remember to have heard any- 
thing of the sort in my narrow experience ; nor does C. de 
Perceval mention it any more than De Braine. 

158. The Adverbial Case is extremely common, 1. For 
forming adverbs, whether from noun; adjective, or participle, 
as, Xai^en, somewhat; Baftaten, suddenly; Baruidan, afar; 
Dayiman, always. 2. With a noun which expresses either 
a point of time or duration of time ; as, Gadan, on the morrow 
(from Gad, Gadwa, in nominative) ; Teheran wa leilan, by 
day and by night ; Xehran cemilan, an entire month ; 
^uxrien yeuman, for twenty days. 3. As said in 119, Ja 
reciban, he came riding. But we must enlarge this to con- 
tain every indirect Predicate; thus, I made him happy, Ana 



112 HAmXBOOK OF MODEEN" AEABIC. 

jafaltoh sefuid<m {i.e. in a happy state). 4. The Cognate 
Accusative of our Latin and Greek grammars is rendered by 
the Adverbial Case ; in fact, we generally need a preposition 
in English; as, they rejoiced with mighty joy: EaraKou 
farahW fa^uiman. Akin to this is the double accusative, 
Melli el ce*s nebieAew, which we must render, "Fill the glass 
with wine." Yet both these instances belong to " high style." 
5. "When an undefined noun is complement to an adjective 
(as in 14) it falls into the adverbial case, as ^a5uim qow- 
waten. But this is perhaps more antiquated than ^f^uim el 
qowwa. 6. After Inna, which opens a clause, nearly like 
"As regards," writers add the adverbial case; thus, Inna 
kadimaw fie e^Ead el adyira, now as regards a servant in one 
of the abbeys. 

The misfortune of this adverbial case, is, that in unpointed 
prose even the learned neglect it with feminities in at, et ; and 
do so for the highly unsatisfactory reason, that in that case, 
no textual "Elif" is added to guide the reader's eye! This 
suggests that the idiom utterly died out and has been partially 
recovered by learned effort. If it cannot be recovered for 
feminines as well as masculines it does not seem worth any 
pains, To limit the use strictly to adverbs seems then the 
wiser course. 

159. It may be well here to observe that though an un- 
defined noun or adjective in the predicate remains unmodified, 
if the copula verb (is, are) is understood; yet when some 
verb like Cen (was), Suir (is become), etc., is expressed, the 
predicate at once falls into {he adverbial case, exactly as in 
Ja recib^m. This seems at first unnatural ; but it must be 
considered that Cen wezier, means, A vizier existed; there 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 113 

was a vizier. Hence if we wish to say, He was a vizier, it 
relieves ambiguity to express it by, Cen wezieraw. After all, 
we may soften the harshness of the last to ourselves, by 
regarding it as equivalent to, He was for a vizier, Erat pro 
ministro regis. The adverbial case is still used in dictionaries 
to express the Western accusative following an active verb, 
when the noun is indefinite ; as, Ra*eit raj ohm, I saw a man. 
This certainly is not popular; it belongs to a scientific 
notation. 



114 



PART III. — PRAXIS. 



1. TABLES OF PLURALS. 



m rd type, xomous, (juytJii ; molouc, lI^Li. The sin- 
gular is very often of the type xams, ^^Ji, sometimes 
xetle, dX'^ti , fern. 



jssc sea, boEour (or 4, 5) 
Jjj potherb(s), boqoul 
iyb cow (ox), boqour 
^Jtej belly, botoun 

^*J tear, domoir? 

C-J> »J road, doroub 

^ci: bough, CoSoun (or 4) 

(JlLs- throat, Eolouq 
iPy>- forest, Eoroux (or 4) 

Ji^>- field, Eoqoul 

^??. sodoud kotout 

foyoun fo^ous 



_ j*t saddle, sorouj 

j^h back, Sohour 

*rsT star, nojoum 

jqj river, nohour (or 4) 

zjbj flower, zohour (or 4) 

*uJ eagle, nosour 

^Ljj heart, qoloub 

^jj horn, qoroun 

if-s.** rock, Sokour 



J 



J*&3 £y*&r j}+ 



J) 



>js^ flesh, meat ; loEoum 

kodoud soyouf boyout 

ro*ous *oSoul *omour 



r* 



HANDBOOK OF MODEBJS T ARABIC. 



115 



qidra, kettle, 


pl. jjjj 


qird, male ape, 


P l 




Eu*$n, fortress, 


ur 2 **- 


jiAr, root (as turnip), 


JJ 3 ^ 


jild, hide, skin, 


J ^=r 


jiAf, bole, trunk, 




^ :v; r 


jisr, bridge, 


Jr ^ 


<Turq, root, vein, 




da/? 


rv th type, aqmar, jUi'l ; aulad, Slj\ . 






Earx, forest, pl 


(j*)j*-\ 


mauja, wave, 


pi. 


eM 


kobz, bread, 


jU.1 


mar a, disease, 




u^lr* 1 


welad, child, 


dty 


qofl, padlock, 




JUsl 


maTar, rain, 


j\\^\ 


sinn, tooth, 




tf y 


xajara, tree, 


j\*a\ 


Eajar, stone, 




A' 


kaxab, timber, 


<_>llru 


qalam, reedpen, 




r £-\ 


marse, cord, 


{Jm\j*\ 


Eabl, rope, 




JUI 


jesed, body, 


JLa5J-1 


qixr, husk, 




^ 


jism, substance, 


(3) aL^I 


bab, door, 




^lyl 


jirm, body, bulk, 


(3) r V^l 


rieE, wind, 




cV 


Cjljijl \te\ jL 


r^l j^*^ 


U1 U\J.\ 


,M M 



v th type, rijal, JU-j. Common with adjectives whose sin- 
gular is of the form cebier, -*-^. 

rajol, man, pl. JU-^ belad, district, pl. Sh 

celb, dog, l_-?K 

baCl, mule, JUj 

jebal, mountain, JV^ 



belad, district, pl 
Eajar, stone, 
bint, girl, ^W. 

Eai% wall, kL>- 



(fylf 



116 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN" ARABIC. 



baKr, sea, pi. j^? ■ kaimar, tent, pi. fU> 

siete, plate, 
ra'Eab, fresh date, 
SaRfa, platter, 



lis- 5 



Aieb, wolf, S-'V.^ 

Gaub, garment, S^W* 

Giyab for Giwab. 



cibar, f^am, SuAar, milaK, diyar (precincts), nise (women.) 
vi th type, *omara, \y\\ 'rolema, Ulc (learned men). 



wezier, vizier, pi. U ;. 


jehil, ignorant, 


pi. ^5>- 


weciel, deputy, Kj 


sefieh, wanton, 


lfL> 


sefier, ambassador, JJL) 


^esier, captive, 


^ 



rabies, captain, chief, pi. ro^ese. 

VII th type, cotteb, c-jlii ; tojjar, ^l^r; especially from a 
participial adjective formed as c-^JlS" ^s»-lj> (Mercantile or 

Reduplicate ^IwidX). Thus, *l£>- , J^p-, 9^ > <Jb. 

vni lh type, especially from singulars of the form j^lx**; 
zeman, ^?£. ezmina (Dactylic Plural). 



mecen, place, pi. 


LL*\ 


Sau, a light, 


pi. 




zeman, time, 




lisen, tongue, 




<LJ! 


jenaK, wing, 


£&&A 


Kusan, horse, 




Ai*UA>- ! 


metef, piece of \ 
property, j 


faZst) 


folam, groom } 
(lad, young man), ) 


<uL1 


famoud, pillar, 


iLw.1 


silaK, weapon, 




■isM 


libes, trowser, 


aLuJl 









In a swrd root transposition takes place ; as, from Serier, 
cradle, throne, pi. Esirra, for Esrira; Hilel, crescent moon, 
pi. Ehilla for Ehlila. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 



117 



ix to (False Dual). 1st with three strong radicals, less 
common. Mam, lad, pi Tolman, ^Uii ; Bilad, country, 
pi Boldan, ^ jjj ; Xatba, rod, stick, pi Xotban, ^Lki . 
Mswan, women. 2nd with hollow root; Nar, fire, pi 
ISTieran, ^\j+j . 

<raud, pole, stick, pi f uidan, ^ &+& 

seq, leg, pi sieqan, (j^*** 8 

Eayit;, EaiT, wall, pi Euitan, ^W 59 " 

kait, thread, pi kietan (3), u^ 3 *^ 

xale^ a shawl, pi ^^ or JU> 
xabb, young man in prime, pi xobban, 



Sabi, 


, boy, pi Sobyan, 


c)W^ 


x th (Short Plural), Borce, pool, pi Borec ; Mediena, city, 


pi modon. 








*omma, nation, pi omam, 


r \ 




jo09a, carcase, pi joOeO, i 


*• •*• r^. 




dobba, bear, pi dobab, 


I^OJ 




qutta, cat, pi qutaT, 


'm 




mille, sect, pi milel, 


ju 




qazen, cauldron, pi qozon, 






luEaf, counterpane, pi loEof, 






sefiena, ship, pi sofon, 


? ? 



The learner may practise himself in Arabizing the nouns 
which here remain in European type. 



118 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AKABIC. 

§ 2. EXEECISES ON OF. 

It was observed above that our of is often evaded in Arabic. 
In fact, we also can say, Love to one's country, A desire after 
ricbes, A hankering for food ; which supersede of by another 
preposition. This is done especially when the former of two 
nouns is a verbal substantive, of which the Arabs also take 
advantage. Examples : 

El modafaf a fan el seltana, the defence of the empire. 

El akbar fan moqabala, the news of a personal meeting. 

Suseb fan aff alihom, account of their doings. 

UEtiyaj ila kidmathe, need of her service. 

Lozoumoh min el mawasir, his need of the water-pipes. 

El temettof bil hedou, the enjoyment of tranquillity. 

Ana xahid f ala af maliho, I am witness of his works. 

El cefaya fil jonoud elbaErieya, the sufficiency of the marine 
troops. 

Bil rafm fan el amtar, in spite of the rains. 

La makafa min tejdied il fetn, (there is) not fear of the re- 
newal of the uproar. 

^alb qarS min mablaf darahim, a demand of a loan of a sum 
of money. 

Oqqat f asel, an ounce of honey. 
Milf aqat maf dan, a spoon of metal. 
Cies min el Earier, a pouch of silk. 
SoEoun bellaur, dishes of fine glass. 
UEda' tile el af dad, one of those numbers. 
CeGier min afSaniho, many of its boughs. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 119 

Ana moxakkus li melieceti, I am a representative of my queen. 
Area? mieya beit min xrrri, four hundred stanzas of my poetry. 
Hie 'fala aKsen Eal min el raEa, it is in the best state of repose. 
Dimaxq cenet maBaTT lil uSturab, Damascus was a focus of 

commotion. 
Fa^emma *Sarat ePan menzilan lil selam, wa mercezen lil 

hedou, yet it has become now an abode of peace, and a 

centre of tranquillity. 
Jebal Lobnan hou manbaf lil xiqaq wa el fetn, Mount Lebanon 

is a fountain of division and sedition. 
El set a ^axara min el neher, the hour ten of the day. 
Eajfa qawieya min zelzelet il *er£, a strong shock of earth- 
quake. 
El SaviH jemiefoh min el akxab, the quarter (is) all of it of 

wood (timbers). 
Eie mecenain min jism el imraa, in two places of the woman's 

body. 
El qoTb el ximalieya min el cornet el ^erSuiya, the north pole 

of the terrestrial globe. 
Cen wabil matar ^ems, there was a heavy shower of rain 

yesterday. 
Jomhour wafir min afyan el ^eheli, an abundant concourse of 

the chief men of the population. 
Ziyadat fayidat el SolK, the immensity of the advantage of 

peace. 
Sorfat quSaS jinayatoh, the swiftness of the punishment of 

his offence. 
Min taraf jelalet ImperaEour Numse, on the part of the 

majesty of the Emperor of Austria. 



120 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ARABIC. 

§ 3. SMALL TALK, WITHOUT VERBS, 

Min ein baflac heAec ? whence is that mule of thine ? 
Houa min Ispania, he is from Spain. 

Bafli arisen min Eumarec, my mule is better than thy ass. 
¥a EuSani aEsen min baClec, and my horse is better than thy 

mule. 
EuSanoh cediex faqat, his horse is a gelding (hack) only. 
Lil darb el cediex kair, for the road a hackney is good, 
^ala '1 darb leis melieE el ceEail, on the road a bloodhorse is 

not good. 
El bafl melieE lil sefar, a mule is good for travel. 
El *er I taiyiba hona jiddan, the soil is very good here. 
*Er£ Ealeb collohe mokSiiba, the soil of Aleppo is all fertile. 
Hie jaiyida, mafloum ! it is excellent, no doubt ! 
Collohe senile wa wasifa hona, all of it is level and wide here. 
Hona monesiba lil rocoub, here it is suited for riding. 
Walecin honelic wafura jiddan, yet yonder it is very rugged. 
Ei -naf am : el jibal f aliya, yes ; the mountains are high. 
Eil doroub Tuin ceBier, in the roads is plentiful clay (mud). 
El jemal leis monesib lil Tuin, the camel is not suited to 

mud. 
MelieE el bad fala'l jebal, the mule is good on the mountain. 
Eil sehl aEsen el jemal, on the plain, better is the camel. 
El jemal qawi wa mecin, the camel is strong and stout, 
"Walecin ajra' el Eu'San, yet swifter (is) the horse. 
Mat loum : akfaf el kail, no doubt ! horses are lighter. 
El bifal fie biladi melieEa, the mules in my country are good. 
Bifalecom atwal min bi Carina, your mules are taller than ours. 
iN'a'ram ; ecbar wa aqwa', yes ; bigger and stronger. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ABABIC. 121 

Eobbama el Eumar fandacom cebier, possibly the ass with 

you is large. 
Fie biladina el Eamier Safiera, in our country the asses are 

small. 
Bil Eaqq ! leisou Eamier, bel jiEax, in truth ! they are not 

asses, but donkeys. 
El jaEx fanied, mofrrub jiddan, the donkey is stubborn, very 

tiresome. 
Safb lil rocoub, wa batu, difficult for riding, and slow. 
El bifal fandana faliya, the mules with us are dear. 
El baCl alia' min el cediex, the mule is dearer than the hackney, 
Bel min el EuSan aiian, nay, even than the horse too. 
La ! el ceEail el ^CSliey afla' bil ceBier, no ! the genuine 

bloodhorse is dearer by far. 
Ein ibnec el najjar? where is thy son the carpenter? 
Hou fayib Tanna min xehrain, he is absent from us for two 

months. 
HeAih el sef a houa fie Bafdad, (at) this hour (moment) he is 

in Bagdad. 
Hel zeujetoh mafoh honec ? is his wife with him there ? 
La : bel collo failetoh hona, no, but all his family is here. 
E tile el bilad aEsen min biladina ? is that country better than 

our country. 
Halethe melieEa, bil Eaqq, its condition is good, in truth. 
Leiset aEsen min Ealetna fie colli xai% it is not better than 

our state in everything. 
Coll el matjar honelic ausef minnoh Tandana, all the trade 

yonder (is) wider than it (is) with us. 
Tile el bilad Earra ceGieran, that country is hot excessively. 
El xams aEarr minnehe hona, the sun is hotter than she is here. 



122 HANDBOOK OP MODEEN AEABIC. 

El belda mel*ana min el fabar, the town is full of dust, 
^and el enher el rief moGmir, along the rivers the country is 

fruitful. 
El donya sokina fil Saif, the world is hot in the summer. 
El Eoqoul qaEula min el Earr, the fields are parched by the 

heat. 

§ 4. AT THE CLOSE OF A JOURNEY. 

El donya mofayyima, the world (sky) is cloudy. 

Garat el rieE, the wind has sprung up. 

Temtor, fala 5anni, fil seTa, it will rain, in my opinion, in a 

minute. 
"Waqif maTar fil bofda, rain (is) falling in the distance. 
¥a iAe ! jayi falaina, and lo ! (it is) coming on us. 
SaEuiE! el matar zekak (Cazier), true! the rain is profuse 

(copious). 
El Eamd lillah ! ma hou Saqief, thank God ! it is not sleet. 
Giyabi mabloula, my clothes are wetted. 
Lecinni lest bardan ceGieran, yet I am not extremely cold. 
HeAe el mafar hou dafi, this rain is warm. 
Nadfa' (Netedaffa') bafdoh (bafdan), we shall get warm 

afterwards.. 
Hel el kan bafuid min hona ? is the caravansery far hence ? 
El mesefe moqarib mielein, the distance is about two miles. 
El waEal famieq jiddan, the mire is deep, very. 
Mafloum ! cen wabilan min matar, surely ! it was a torrent 

of rain. 
El* en waqiTa raxxa faqat, now (is) falling a drizzle only. 
E baflec tefban min el Turn, is thy mule wearied by the mud ? 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 123 

Bafli ma hou Gebit jiddan, my mule is not firm, very. 
Cetifoh semiece ceGieran, his shoulder is too thick. 
Qawayimoh raqieqa bil faya, his legs are delicate in extreme. 
Dabba mi01 heAe arda' min Kumar, a beast like this is worse 

than an ass. 
"Walecin Aahroh farieS, yet his back is broad. 
Hehona Sarat el *erZv yebise, here the ground is become dry. 
El darb ausef minnohe qablan, the road is wider than it (was) 

before, 
^aiyib ! el dawabb naxieta (nixat), good ! the beasts are in 

spirits. 
Eheh ! na'Sul ila'l kan fil sefa, ha ! we shall reach the cara- 

vansery quickly. 
Qoddamana nes ceGieroun, before us are many people. 
Collohom reciboun, all of them riding. 
Leisou jemiefhom rijal, they are not all men. 
Honelic niswan min bat uid, yonder are women afar. 
El niswan ec9ar min el rijal, . . . (are) more numerous than. . . 
^ala ganni, hie qafila, in my opinion it is a caravan (company 

of travellers). 
Aelic hejien abyaS, that yonder is a white dromedary. 
Min jomlathom jiEax ceGiera, among them are many donkeys. 
"Wa honec rajolein fala jemal, and there, two men on a camel. 
Selam falaicom, peace (be) to you. 
"Wa f alaicom el selam, and to you (be) peace. 
Balafna ila '1 menzil, we have reached the alighting place. 
Hel men56um el kan ? is the caravansery well arranged. 
O'Sbor daqieqa ; fa nafrif, be patient a moment, then we 

(shall) know. 



124 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AKAJ3IC. 

§ 5. AT THE CARAVANSEBAI. 

Cennis auAati, sweep my chamber. 

Leis xai* hona me^oum, not (any) thing here is well arranged. 

Cennest el ^erSuiya, ya kawaja, I have swept the floor, sir. 

El micnese men5ou ( ra, the broom (is) spoiled. 

Piraxi leis naSuif, my bed is not clean. 

Ente nafsen, ya aki (akoui) ! thon art sleepy, my brother. 

La, tatfi el nar, do not put out the fire. 

El nar {fern.) intafat, is put out. 

Bi weddina Cada 5 , we want dinner. 

Oq*rod f ala'l diewan, sit on the sofa. 

Ij lis janbi, sit by me. 

Ijlis fand el sofra, sit at the table (tray of leather). 

Jieb el fada*, bring the dinner. 

E.6TE el tafam fala'l sofra, put down the food on the table. 

JSTawilni sicciena, hand me a knife. 

Onawiloh lee, hehona, I hand it to thee, — here. 

Etenawiloh min yedac, I receive it from thy hand. 

Hel oqaddim lee laKme ? shall I present a bit of meat ? 

Lazimni soteiya (siete : Alep.) , I need (opus mihi) a plate. 

Ein el siyat {Alep.) ? where are the plates? 

A fandac el 'SoE.oun ? are the dishes with you ? 

Collohe mat el sececien, all of them with the knives. 

Collohe cenet fie korji, all of them were in my saddle bags, 

Hehona el SoEoun EaAura, here (are) the dishes ready. 

Coll xai* qoddamacom, everything (is) before you. 

'KoA'laKme maf cisrat kobz, take morsel of bread. 

5 Col min el rozz mafan, eat (some) of the rice together. 



HANDBOOK OJF MODERN ARABIC. 125 

Oried semne ma^ el kobz, I wish a (piece of) butter with the 

bread, 
^ase toried el milE, perhaps you wish the salt. 
Ma e*col ceGier rnin el milE, I do not eat much of salt. 
ATyab el zobd min el semn fandi, nicer is fresh butter than 

salt butter in my opinion. 
Min kaTuri aEsen el jobon, from my liking better (is) cheese. 
Lecin ma texrab xai*, but you do not drink (any) thing. 
Cenet el jarra mePana, the urn was full. 
KouE ! jieb el bellaura, go ! bring the decanter. 
Fiehe limonada taiyibe, in it (is) nice lemonade. 
La taklot fiehi may, do not mix in it water. 
Leiset Eolwa ceGieran, it is not sweet too much. 
Xarab el borteqan yotjibni aEsen, orange-wine (sherbet) 

pleases me better. 
Melli qadaEui, fill my goblet. 
Ce*s Safiera tecfleni ana, a small glass suffices me. 
E toried te^col ezyad (zed, Alg. — ceman, Syria), wishest 

thou to eat more ? 
AfTuini xiqqat el ^okra', give me the other piece (half). 
Bi weddi e^col xoqfa ceman (Alep.), I will eat a slice more. 
Kalli'S heAih el cisra, finish this morsel. 
Hehona loqma taiyibe, here is a nice mouthful. 
EstecGir bi kairac, I wish multiplication to your welfare (i.e. 

I thank you). 

CeGGer kairac ! (God) multiply thy welfare ! 
KalaSna : xiel el SoEoun, we have done : remove the dishes. 
Hel toried texrab* toton (Alep.) ? wishest thou to smoke 
tobacco ? 

* Drink. 



126 HANDBOOK OF MODEEK AEABIC. 

^an ^lAiiec, ana ma axrab, by thy leave, I smoke not. 
Ma aEobb qalioun, I do not love a straight pipe (Alep.). 
El narjiele taqt'af faqli aEsen ; lau cen katuri, en axrab, 
The cocoanut* hits my mind better ; if it were my liking that 

I smoke. 
El iGnain farad xai" fandi, the two (are but) one thing with me. 
Robbama teEobb qahwe au txay ? possibly thou lovest coffee 

or tea ? 
La : oried el raEa, I wish rest. 
MelieE ! ente testerieE, good ! thou shall take rest. 
T^aEna naxrab el txay ? we will drink tea. 
Hel el may sokn ? is the water hot ? 
Af^uini mowaiya sokna, give me a little water hot. 
Adier balec, yaCli el may, turn thy mind (that) the water boil. 
HeAe el finjan SaCier, this coffee-cup (is too) small. 
Jieb tase : hiya ecbar, bring a cup (flat cup) (saucer) : this 

is bigger. 
¥i.<fZ% txay bil cefaya, put in tea in sufficiency. 
Ifmeloh qawi, make it strong. 
Ma axrab txay min fair Ealieb, I do not drink tea without 

milk. 
Kairieya, enna bandana Ealieb, (it is) good luck that we have 

milk. 
Bel hona qaimaq aiian, nay, here is clotted cream too." 
Tair enna leis maf ui soccer Ingliez, only that I have not with 

me English sugar, 
^"ase taqdir texraboh bila soccer ? perhaps thou art able to 

drink it without sugar ? 

* Alep.— i.e. The pipe in which the smoke passes through water in a 
cocoanut shell. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 127 

Aradt exteri min soccer, fa min qillet bakt, ma 

I wished (that) I buy some sugar, then, by ill luck, did not 
baqiyat wala oqqa waEuda, 'x'and el doccen. 
remain not even a single ounce at the shop. 

Ha ya^orr, it does not hurt. 

Ma lazim el soccer, not needful (is) sugar. 

Helli el tase, fill the cup. 

TefaSSal, wa ixrab, do favour, and drink. 

Axcor faSlec wa jamielec, I thank thy favour and thy polite- 
ness. 

Bila Ealieb tari au qaxta, ma yaSuEE el txay, 

Without fresh milk or cream, is not right the tea. 

Lau cont Talabt qahwe minni, toujad fandi qahwe 

If thou hadst demanded coffee of me, is found with me coffee 
min Mauka, el qahwet el Eamra, 
of Moka, the coffee the red. 

Toxarrifni : lecin aEabb liya el txay, 

Thou honourest me ; but more acceptable to me (is) tea. 

5>ala ka'turac, according to thy pleasure. 

E toried el Taset el *okra' ? dost wish a second cup. 

La, : waEuda tecfieni (toceflieni), no : one suffices me. 

YaSuEE, all is right. 

§ 6. ON DESSERT. 

Hel ¥ andac xai 5 " lil noql {dessert) ? 
^andi anwar 1 xette' min el fawacih, 
I have kinds. diverse of fruits. 

Qoul, eix' min fawacih EaSir Ael waqt, 
Say, what sort of fruits (is) ready this moment. 



128 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AKABIC. 

Hehona zebieb, wa belaE, wa leuz, wa tien, wa jeuz, 
Here raisins, dates, almonds, figs, walnuts, 

wa temarhindi, wa fairohe. 

tamarinds, and others than these. 

El zebieb *ecl Taiyib, aEsen min el f unab 5>andi. 
Raisins (are) good eating, better than grapes (inmy opinion) > 

Emma fandi funab aiSan melieKa. 
But with me grapes too (are) good. 

Min ein texteri el f unab ? 
"Whence buy est thou grapes ? 

La (Ma) axteri qaT ; collohe min jonaineti. 

I buy not at all ; all of them (are) from my little garden. 

^ase texteri el temarhindi wa el belaK. 
Perhaps thou buyest the tamarinds and dates. 

Eaqq fie yedec ; jonaineti jaiyida, 

(Thou art right) my garden (is) excellent, 

Walecin ma yomcin en toEsin coll el fawacih 

But it is not possible that should succeed all fruits 

fie mecen waEud. 
in one place. 

La^all tokrij kamr min el f unab. 

Haply thou elicitest wine from the grapes. 

La ; ne^col el f unab, wa* ilia noqaddidhe li zebieb. 
No ; we eat the grapes, or else we dry them for raisins. 

Jieb liy xowaiyat el zebieb. 
Give me a little raisins. 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEAJBIC. 129 

E toried te^col kobze mafhe ? 
"Wilt eat bread with it ? 

Oried ; fa axrab mowaiya baT doh. 
I will, and drink water after it. 

La! bi failed ente lest Moslim. 
No ! by thy favour ! thou art not Mussulman. 

El NaSari leisou fayinen el kamr. 
Christians are not abhorrers of wine. 

SafiuiK : fa minhom siccieroun. 

True : then (some) of them are drunkards. 

Min el fawacih el fiolwa taqdir te? mal el dibs : fa hou ce 
Erom sweet fruits thou canst make syrup (treacle) : and it is 

miGli el fasel. Min el kobz wa el zebieb te^mal 

like honey. Erom bread and raisins thou makest 

favour melieE. El kamr, wa ceAe el nebieA, leis monesib 
breakfast good. "Wine, and so too the toddy, is not suitable 

lil favour. Wa mat heAe, el Eransewieya fa 

for breakfast. Eor all that, the French 

yaxrabounoh bil favour Caliban, 
drink it at breakfast prevalently. 

La towakiAni : celamec leis maSbout : lecinnehom 
Eeprove me not : thy speech is not accurate : but they 

yaxraboun el qahwe {coffee) Caliban. 

Ah ! ne Cair emcina teteCayyar el f ada. 
different places is different the custom. 

9 



130 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

In tefayyar taqs el donya, fa Ealan tetefayyar el ma^ecil. 
If vary the climate, then instantly the victuals vary. 

Fil Harr yofjibni el Kalieb el Kamiz, wa fil bard el qahwe 
In heat pleases me milk acid, in cold 

bi Kalieb sokn. ^aiyib hona Kalieb el mafz ; emma 
with milk hot. Mce here (is) milk of goats ; but 

atyab fandi Kalieb el baqar. 

nicer with me (is) milk of cows. 

Aoqt ana marra(ten) Kalieb el jamous, wa fie katuri hou 
I tasted once milk of buffalo, and in my liking it is 

elAeA min cileihoma. Li coll waKud Aauqoh el mak'Sou'S. 
nicer than both. To each one (is) his peculiar taste. 



§ 7. TALK WITH A COOK ON CATEEING. 

A. Ya Waness, lazim-ni eiyac. "W. Ya kawaja ! eix' textehi ? 
John ! I want thee. Sir ! what dost thou wish ? 

A. Oried, en teji mafui ila'l souq. 

I will, that thou come with me to the market. 

"W. Bi weddac xai* f ase lil fada. 

Thou wantest something perhaps for dinner. 

A. Nafam : en texteri laKm fanam. 

Yes : that thou buy flesh (of) sheep. 

"W. La, seiyidi ; ma yaSuKK lee. 

No, sir ! (my lord !) it will not be well for thee. 



HANDBOOK OP MODERN ARABIC. 131 

A. Pa leix' heAe ma yaSuEE liya ? 

Then why -will this not be well for me ? 

"W. LaEm karouf aEsen : houa rakS. 
Flesh of lamb is better : it is tender. 

A. Lazimni aiSan lift wa jazer. 
I need also turnips and carrots. 

5*ase fil souq ki£ar wa boqoul. 

Perhaps in the market (are) greens and potherbs. 

"W. Me heAe ePen coll el koiara Caliya. A. Ma yaiorr. 
In the present season all greens are dear. It hurts not. 

EcGar ma yaSuir, el batn ye^koA qaliel. 

Utmost that it may be, the belly takes (but) little. 

"W. 5*ala ganni, naEna f ayizien ila jobon. 

my notion, we (are) needing cheese. 

A. Hel youjad jobon fil souq ? (is found?) 
"W. Youjad honec taiyib, rakieS (cheap). 

A. Ente Caiman : colloma hou taiyib, Sar fall. 

Thou (art) mistaken : whatever is good, is dear. 

Hel fandana xowaiya minnoh ? 
Is with us a little of it ? 

"W". Ma yabqi xai 5 ", ilia qaliel. 

Nothing remains, except little. 

Lazimni semn min xan (li^ejl) pilau. 
I need butter for (Alep.) a rice-dish. 

A. E toriedoh min xanec ente ? * 

Wishest thou it on account of thyself ? 



132 HANDBOOK OE MODEEN AEABIC. 

"W. La, seiyidi: tefrif, fie heAe el fa$l qouti 

l$o, my lord ! tliou knowest, in this season my food 

el rozz bi Ealieb faqat. 
(is) rice with milk only. 

A. JVemma el rozz bi semn aiSan hou faix (victual) melieE. 



W. $adaqt. Lecin, wa^in ta'rami leis xai* leAieA jiddan, 

Thou art right. But even if my diet is not very nice, 

fa melieK li qowweti wa moSuEE. 

yet (it is) good for my strength wholesome. 

Va^emma cen celamona fie laEm lil sofratec. 

But our talk was on (concerning). . . . thy table (tray). 

Tomcin teEobb yaknie ? 

It is possible you like a stew (ragout) ? 

E la toried atboq xouraba ? 

Dost thou not choose, I cook soup ? 

A. La tofTuini meslouq; bel el mexwiey 

Do not give me boiled (meat) ; nay, but roasted 

aEsen 'randi. 

(is) better with me. 

"W. SaEuiE, lazimec karouf. El Jan ma yecoun 

Certainly, thou needest lamb. The mutton will not be 

taiyib, laula tesloqoh. "Wa ente, leix' toried teji 
nice, unless thou stew it. But why wilt thou come 

maf ui ? AEsen, en exteri ana bifairec. 

with me ? (It is) better, that I buy without thee. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 133 

A. Ente waEdec ? Hel fandec folous ? 
Thou alone ? Hast thou money ? 

W. AfTuini xai* min folous : fa aHoTT 

Give me somewhat of money : then I will set down 

f ala waraqa, eix'ma (eiyoma) exteri. 
on a paper, whatever I buy. 

A. Ya3uEE. 'Koa el noqoud. 
It will do. Take the cash. 



§ 8. WITH MULETEERS ON A JOURNEY. 

A. Hey a, Hey a ! qad talaf at el xams. 

Ho ! Ho ! "already the sun has come out (up). 

Ya baffalien, Eammilou el dawab(b). 
muleteers, load (n.) the beasts. 

El neher Xalaf? falaina. Qoumou ! Li nerouE ! 

The day has risen upon us. Get up ! Let us go ! 

Ya el cesele' ! Leis licom xajafa en teqoumou ? 
ye lazy ones ! Have ye not bravery to get up ? 

Tefal, Yousef ! li noEammil ana wa ent. 

Come, Joseph ! let us load (the mules), I and you. 

B. lAe cen toried, ana oEammil wa ente temsic el dabbe; 
If thou choose, I (will) load and thou hold the beast; 

wa^illa, ana amsiche, wa ente toEammil. 
or else, I will hold her, and thou shalt load. 



134 HANDBOOK OF MODEBN ABABIC. 

A. La la, ! aEsen en arboThe fil *lbziem ; Oomm inna 
BTo ! better that I fasten her in the buckle ; thereupon 

noEammil iGnaina sewa. sewa. 
we (shall) load, we two together. 

El aEmal Gaqiele, wala yaqdir waEud waEdoh ^ala' *en 
The loads are heavy, nor is able one (man) alone for that 

yarfa'rne. Eammil ente min janib, wa *ana oEammil 
he lift them. Load thou from (one) side, and I (will) load 

min el janib el *okra'. Pehemt xai* minni? 

from the other side (f). Hast thou at all understood me ? 

B. MelieE! li narfa? fala'l baCala.— Yecfi. 
Good ! let us lift upon the mule. — It suffices. 

A. La ! irfaf ezyad. 
ffo ! lift (it) more. 

B. Ael waqt el rafafa bil ziyada. 
This time the lifting (is) in excess. 

A. Wattu, Eatte' yecoun colloh sewa'. 
Lower (it), until it shall be all of it even. 

B. Orbot min janibec, wa aftuini el Eabl. 
Tie from thy side, give me the rope. 

A. MelieE heceAe. B. 'KoAoh ! 
Good in that way. Take it ! 

A. Osbor xowaiya ! HeAe qaSuir. Ma yecfi. 

Wait a bit. This (is) (too) short. It does not suffice. 

B.611 elleAi rabattoh, wa tawwiloh. 

Loosen (that) which thou hast tied, and lengthen it. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 135 

B. MelieK ! Nawilni el Taraf. Imsic I 

Good ! Hand (in.) to me the end. Hold (it) ! 

A. Ana mesicoh. Fil sefa Eammil ! 
I (am) holding it. Now (this moment) load ! 

B. Ana moKammil. Ya, eix' heAe el mirbata ? 
I (am) loading. 0, what (is) this fastening? 

Ma ana qadir aEoll he. (Lest ana qadir fala Kallihe.) 
I am not able to untie it. 

A. Iqtafhe bi mousi. 
Cut it with my clasp knife. 

B. Lala : yecoun kisera : fa bafdoh ma 
No : it would be a loss (a pity) ; then afterwards it is 

yeswa' xai*. AEsen el Sabr. 
worth nothing. Patience is better. 

Wa Eallaitoh [Kalaltoh]. 'Koa el Eabl, wa xouf [on3or] 
And I have untied it. Take the rope, and see (look) 

imma heAe yecfiec. A. Yecfi. Orbot melieE, 

whether this suffices thee. Tie it well 

wa irmi liya taraf el Eabl min teEt balm il dabba. 
throw to me the end of the rope under belly of the beast. 

B. HeAe hou el taraf. Imsicoh. A. Ana mesicoh. 
This is the end. Hold it. I am holding it. 

Xoddoh ecBar min jihtec. B. Ya*5uEE. Irceb ! 
Tighten it more thy side. All is right. Mount ! * 



* The verb means either Mount or Ride ; so, either Get on board a 
ship, or, Make a voyage. 



136 HANDBOOK OF HODEKN AEABIC. 

C. Kallieni amxi xowaiya, wa el bafla terouE qoddam. 
Let me "walk a bit, shall go in front. 

B. La ! heAih dabbe, leis minhe xai* melieE : 

(as for) this animal, there is nothing good from her : 

terns wa tercoS ; wa iAe herabat, ma yomcin 
she kicks and runs ; if she has fled, not is possible 

ilEaqohe. Lazimec, imma tereeb, au 

overtaking her. You must either ride, or 

temsiche dayiman bil lijam. El iktiyar faleic. 
you hold her always by the bridle. The choice (is) on thee. 

5?ala katurec. 

According to thy liking. 

C. Cen liya tefab ceGier : el rocoub aEsen. 
Was to me fatigue much : riding (is) better. 

Sefudni min failec. B. B'ism Iliah ! irceb ! 

Assist me by thy favour. 

D. Pa ana, bi weddi arceb waEdi. 
As for me, (it is) in my wish to mount alone. 

Imsic el dabbe, li^ella tehrib minni. 
Hold the beast, lest she flee from me. 

B. Ircebt^ melieE : ente xaTur. 

Thou hast mounted well : thou (art) clever. 

D. Hel ana ma qoltoh lee ? B, Miel xowaiya f ala kalf, 

Did I not tell thee ? Lean a little backward, 

* To mount without stirrups on to a travelling saddle is very difficult. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 137 

Eatte' terceb aEsen. Souq ila qoddam. 

that thou mayest ride better. Drive forward. 

Ana mosefud el *ekara', wa arja fileic bafdoh. 
I (am) helping the others, I return to thee afterwards. 

EouE xowaiya xowaiya, f ala sohouletec. A. RouE bil 
Go (rowaidan) gently, at thy ease. in 

fajl: xouc, xouc! B. Collohom Eammalou, wa 
haste ! prick ! All of them have laden, and (are) 

horn jayien war ana. C. Ente terabt ceGiera. 

coming behind us. art tired (hast toiled) too much. 

B. Ah ! ma hou xai 5 " heAe el xiqa. HeAih hie Sanafatna. 

is nothing this misery (toil). This is our trade {art). 

A. El tefab leis fie heAih, lecin fil molaqayat il 5?arab, 
The fatigue is not in this, but in the meeting of the Arabs, 

elleAien auqat auqat yofarriyouuna ; wa baf i el 

who times times strip us (naked) ; a part of the 

kofara yogallimou falaina : heAe hou el tefab elleAi 
road-guards oppress us which 

naEn lesna motefawwidien falaihi. 
we are not accustomed to. 

Wa^emma, *emr el teEiniel wa el Eatt fa hou sehil f alaina. 
But the affair of loading and depositing is easy to us. 

C. El hewa taiyib elyeum. B. ^aiyib, el Eamd lillah ! 
The air is nice to-day. praise to God ! 

A. Kafmel el-yeum OelaOien miel. 
We make to-day 30 . miles. 



138 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ABABIC. 

D. ¥a ceif bi weddicom tercebou toul el neher ? 
bow will you ride all tbe day ? 

A. La! qabl el Aohr neE6T;% Eatte' netefaxxa wa 

before noon we set down, until we sup and 

no^um el dawabb, wa bafdoh nosefir min jadied, 
feed tbe beasts, afterwards we travel anew, 

wala neKo^ ilia qarieb min el leil. 
nor set down except near (to) tbe night. 

D. El yeum bataina: ma Eammalna ilia 

To-day we have been sluggish : we did not load except 

bafd Colour il fajr, 

after coming forth of the dawn. 

C. La ! el neher ma cen talaf lil sefa. 
the day had not come forth yet. 

A. El Xau, elleAi qad ra^eitoh, cen Zau el qamar 

The light which already you perceived, moon 

^ernma el fajr *Calaf , bafdama conna Eammalna zeman. 
came forth, after that we had loaded (a long) time. 

C. Sadaqt. Lecin ei hie sefat el neher fie Ael waqt ? 

You are right. But what is the hour at this time ? 

A. Bil Eaqq, yabqa ezyad (zod) ila'l Aohr sefatein OelaGe. 
In truth remains {encore) to noon two hours (or) three. 

C. Lau cen sera waEuda, lecen aEsen el Eoloul hona ; 
If it were one hour, verily were better unpacking here, 

iAecen heAe el mauAuf melieE jiddan, wa fieh el 5UU 
since this place in it shade 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN ABABIC. 139 

wa el may, wa el EaTab wa Eaxiex lil baheyim. 
water, firewood, grass for the animals. 

A. Ma yohimm : bar" doh nolaqi fair mecen arisen 
It imports not : afterwards we meet another place better 

minnoh. Xoucou, li najri fie heAe el bard. 
Prick ye ! let ns run in this cold. 

Bafd el Aohr textidd el sokouna. Eie waqtihi 

After noon the heat grows intense. Instantly 

nofettix lina maEall, nesti5ull wa 

we search ont for us a place, in which we shade and rest 

narteE (yiii.) fiehi sefa sefatein. 
ourselves an hour (or) two hours. 

C. Mafqoul. 5*alaic el Eocm. 

A wise thing. On thee (rests) the decision. 

A. Hehou el mauAUT 1 elleAi qolt lee falaihi. 
Here is (maTraE) which I told thee of. 

AEsen min el auwal bi ceGier. 

(It is) better than the first by much. 

Ana farif heAe el Tarieq melieE. 
I know this way well. 

Cem marra maxait fie heAih el SaEari ! 

How many times (roEt wa jiet) in these plains (desarts). 

Lau cen EatTait bali fala '1 Eujar, 

If I had (Eatatt) set my mind upon the stones, 

le cont afrif coll waEud bi Souratoh. 
verily I should know each one by its figure. 



140 HANDBOOK OP MODERN AHABIC. 

C. Ain naKott; ? ( Ain nenzil ?) A. Inzil hona, 

Where sit we down ? (Where alight we ?) Alight here, 

teEt heAih el xajara. Hie n^allala, wa el rami na/rum. 
under this tree. It is shady, and the sand soft. 

C. Wa^amma hona min ein ne^koA el Eatab lil maTbak ? 
But here whence take we firewood for cookery ? 

A. Ya ente ! hel taTlob lee fil SaEra coll xai* 
thou ! dost thou require in the desart 

maSbout? el tabaka besieta hona, bila wajaq. 
accurate ? the cooking is simple here, without a stove. 

Ifmel Goqba (joura) fil rami, wa^illa 'koA lee 
Make a hole in the sand, or else take for thee 

Eajarain GelaGe, wa reccib falaihe el tanjara, 

two stones (or) three and mount on them the stewpot, 

wa axful teKtehe min bafar il jimal il yabis 

and kindle beneath it (some) dung of camels dry, 

elleAi texoufoE qoddamec, wa fil seta yestewi 

which (ten3oroh) thou seest . . . instantly will be dressed 

el tabiek, eiyoma yecoun moradee tatbok. 

the dish, whatever it may be thy will (that) thou cook. 

B. ^ase toried el rozz ? HeAe sehil. C. Einafam. 
Perhaps thou wishest rice ? This is easy. Yes. 

La tebtui. D. El e^karien ma yatbokou xai*'. 
Be not slow. The others do not cook (any) thing. 

B. Ah ! man ye*col jobon, wa man ye^col bu*5al. 
one eats cheese, another eats onions. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN" ABABIC. 141 

A. Hehou el may Caliyan. C. ILgXX el rozz fil may. 
Lo ! the water is boiling. Put the rice . water. 

]S"anEu el fitaya. P. Leix' testefjil heceAe ? 
Set aside the cover. "Why hastest thou so ? 

C. Moradi arqod qalielan, li^enna ma nimt 

My wish (is that) I sleep a little, because I slept 

xai* heAih el leile. 
not at all this night. 

B. Xouf ! collohom qadd *ecelou, wa heAe el sef a horn 
See ! all of them already have eaten, and at present they 

raqidien. Pie waqtihom yaqoumou wa yoKammilou. 

(are) sleeping. Presently they will rise and load. 

C. Ente e fa ma te^col ezyad xai* ? 
Dost not thou then eat something more ? 

P. Yecfi: axcor faSlec. 

It suffices : I thank thy favour. 

C. Ana rayiE afsil yedaiya ; ba^doh arqod hona. 

I am going to wash my two hands ; afterwards I sleep here. 

P. ^andama ente raCid, fa ana afsil ej Tanjara wa el 
While thou (art) sleeping, I wash the stewpot and the 

SoKoun, fa aHotthe fil ¥ aiba. 
dishes, then I put them into the wallet. 

C. Mafloum, heAe el mecen taiyib. 
Surely, this place is good. 

Xomm el hewa wa el rieH el leti tehobb ■falaina. 
Smell the air and the wind which blows upon us. 



142 HANDBOOK OP MODEEN ARABIC. 

§ 9. COPTIC FEAST. 

M. Xouf, ya Eanous, imma EaSir lina el fada. 
See Stephanus whether ready dinner. 

E. Coll xai* EaZur. 

M. Ifrax el sofra wa mandielehe, wa jieb el tafam. 

Spread out table and its cloth, bring the food. 

Ea ente, e ma tafsil yedaic ? 

dost not thou wash thy two hands ? 

A. Ei nafam, afsilhe. (Yes, I wash them.) 

M. Ya BaTras, jieb el taxt wa el ibrieq. Dawwirhe, Eatte' 
Peter, bring the basin jug. Carry them round until 

coll man yoried yafsil yedaih, fa yafsilhe. 
whoever wishes to wash his hands, may wash them. 

Tefal ila hona, ya qasies! Iqteribou, jemiefcom. 
Come hither, priest! Approach all of you. 

Wa ente, ya rahib Simf an, e fa la (ma) teteqaddam ? 
monk Simeon, dost thou not advance ? 

S. La ! ya seiyidna. La to^wakiAni, ana ma 

our lord. Do not reprove me, I (am) not 

*ecil semien. 
eating fat (gras). 

M. Ah ! leix' ma qoltoh liya qablan ? Conna tabakna 

why didst not tell it to me before ? We would have cooked 

lee xai* min el semac. S. Lala ! ma yaEtej. 

fish. is not needed (vni.). 



HANDBOOK OF MODEKtf AEABIC. 143 

M. BouE, ya Eanous ; jieb lina fasel naEl wa zeitoun. 
Go bring honey of bees olives. 

MarEaba bicom, ya mofallimien. 'Colou wa ixrabou 
"Welcome to you, doctors ! Eat ye drink ye 

bi katurcom. El neher Tawiel, wa (el Eamd lillah !) 
at your liking. The day (is) long praise to God ! 

el *ecl ceGier. 

the food (is) plentiful. 

Hel te^eol, ya qasies, min el mexwiey ? 
Eatest thou, priest, of the roasted ? 

G. Min mexwiey mefroum, fa^inna e*col. 

hashed (minced) verily I eat. 

M. Cobb, ya mofallim Zeitoun ! t ala heAec el $aEn 

Overturn (^pour out) Doctor Olivier, upon that dish 

min qarf maExiey, EeAe el Ealieb bil toum. 
of gourd stuffed, this milk with garlic. 

Z. B'ism illah ! ya seiyidi.. 

M. Jieb, ya Ba^ras min fand el senbousqiey, 

Bring from the shop of the confectioner, 

el karouf el maExiey. 
lamb stuffed. 

B. Eanous raE li ye^koAoh. S. Hehou jayi bihi. 

Stephanos is gone to take it (get it). coming 

M. Eottoh fil wasat. IT. BayiEatoh melieEa. 

Put down midst. Its odour 



144 HANDBOOK OF MODEEF AEABIC. 

G. ¥a el tofma aEsen. M. Hel ente te<? rif to? matoh ? 

the taste is better. Knowest thou its taste ? 

G. La lil sefa : lacin ana Eastebtoh heceAe. 
jSTot yet : but I computed it thus. 

M. 'Koa, wa Aouqoh ! G. Ah. ! Eaqqaten ! heAe hou *ecl el 
Take taste it. verily ! this is food 

mofaUimien. , Ya, eix' Ealawetoh ! 
of doctors. what its sweetness ! 



M. Eix' te^col, ya, mofallim Zeitoun 



Z. Ana fa e^col yaknie, e^col waraq-a-daliya, e^col 
I, why, I eat (ragout,) leaf of vine, 

senbouseq, wa min jomlat kairat, elleti toftuihe 

patties (any) among good things, which thou givest 

lina bil ziyada. M. Wa ente, ya, mo^allim Salieb ? 
us in excess. Doctor Lacroix ? 

5. Ente, ya seiyidi, aftait liya farrouja, wa ana famil 
hast given me a chicken, I (am) making 

texrieE fuAamiho. M. E fa tefrif fala '1 texrieE ? 
dissection of its bones. knowest about 

'S. TexrieE el laEm el matbouk, fa ana f arifoh. 
Dissection of meat cooked, why ! 

M. Li naxouf xa^aratec fie texrieE heAe el karouf. 
Let us see thy cleverness in carving this lamb: 

3. La ! ente Ea^Tait (Eatatt) yedec Talaihi (hast put). 



HANDBOOK OF MOBEEN ABABIC. 145 

Cemmil xoflec wa farriqoh lil Soyouf. 
Complete thy work divide it to the guests. 

M. La! heAe hou wa5uifa lil mofallim M$ur. 
this is a function for Doctor Victor. 

Yedaihi qawieya. (His two hands (are) strong.) 

"N. Bism illah ! 'koA ente ! qasemtoh f alaie. 

accept (this piece) ! I have apportioned it to thee. 

M. Ya heAih el xoqfa! heAa faqat yecfieni (yoceffieni) 
this slice ! suffices me 

yeumain. "N. Iac lee xai* zeyid, iqsimoh maf el qasies. 
two days. If thou hast superfluous, share it with 

M. Mat qoul ! BilEaqq hou leAieA, wa Xot matoh melieEa. 
Wise (saying). In truth its taste 

Man, bafd heAe el tafam, ye*col badinjan, tamatuin, 
"Who, after these viands, eats melongene, tomatoes, 

*runab, borteqan ? G. HeAe colloh rieK wa mowaiya. 
oranges ? wind and water. 

M. Wa el rozz, e ma teEobboh ? (dost thou not like it ?) 

G. AEobb el coscosou ; amma xouraba min el rozz, fa ma 
tofjibni qat. M. Wa ceif el rozz bi Ealieb ? 

G. Ya *akoui, jaiyid, iAe cen bi misc wa fanbar kam. 
excellent, if with musk ambergris raw. 

M. Xouf heAe el rahib el mescien, raiu bil fasel wa el zeitoun. 
See this monk wretched, pleased with honey and olives. 

G. Ya seiyidi, li coll xai* waqtoh (to everything its time). 

10 



146 HANDBOOK OP MODERN AEABIC 

^andi, baf£ el auqat, tecfieni qarqouxa : amma, iAe 

"With me, some times, dry crust (biscuit) but, if 

jani xai* aKsen (estefrif lee) la armieh lil cilab. 
comes to me I confess I do not cast it to the dogs. 

M. "Wa el fuAam (jbones), e ma termiehe ? G. El fuiam hie 

qaraqiex el cilab, wa esnani ma yaqdirou falaihe. 
the biscuits of dogs, my teeth are not competent 

M. Hel esnanec qadirien fala'l baflawa ? GL Ma afrif min 
strong (enough) for cheesecake. I know not for 

zeman: fa^inna ma jarrabtohom fie heAih el Eaje. 
(long) time : for I have not tried them in this affair. 

M. Axouf fil sefa. Xiel {Remove), ya Eanous, heAe colloh, 

wa jieb lina el baqlawa. Eix' teqoul fie heAe ? 

(jr. HeAe, fie ganni, aEsen min el jobon. 

M. Jarriboh. (Try it.) Gr. Yaya! colloh soccer wa lauz. 

A. Haqqaten ! heAih el baqlawa taiyiba. 

Hel fameltomhe fil dar ? M. Yah la ! El niswan e fa 
Hid ye make them ? (Would) women 

yafrifou yafmilou heAe ? ^tabbak el sinjaq famelhe. 
know to make cook of the flag (regiment ?). 

JR. Bil Eaqq, fajieba; jadiera bil sanajiq. 
marvellous ; worthy of the flags. 

Z. La bodd, yerouE maSrouf ce0ier fie famel mi01 heAe. 

No escape ! goes (vanishes) expense in making 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN" AEABIC. 147 

M. Tarxain GelaOe bil ecGar. 'Col minhe. 

Two or three piastres at most. Eat of them. 

A. Yecfieni fa *ecelt ceQier. (I have eaten much.) 

M. Tafsil yedaic. BaTras ! jieb el taxt wa el ibrieq mat 
Thou shall wash bason jug 

el Saboun, li nafsil yedaina. "Wa ente, Fanous! jieb 
soap our hands. bring 

lina el qahwe. F. "Wa el mafoun, e fa la ejieboh ? 
coffee. metal dish. 

M. Kalli fawacih el noqla wa el molebbeset 

Leave fruits dessert sugar plums (sweetmeats) 

wa qar3 el jobon el Afranji ; wa jieboh. Lacin la tokalli 
cake cheese Yet do not leave 

el barnak bila jarra, wala el qomqom bila farqiey. 
filtering stand nor (retort) without arrack. 

N. Ana (aqoul lee el Eaqq) bi ciGrat ma xarabt min 

I from plenty (of) what I have drunk of 

el faraqiey wa xarab, baqiyat nar fie mrTdati : 

arrack sherbet, has remained fire stomach 

fa ePan moradi en axrab mowaiya. 

now my wish (is) a sup of water. 

M. La ! kalli yejiebou lee qadaE min limonada wa 'koA lee 
let (them) goblet take 

loquaimat selaXa. Ya abouna Jarjes, e ma tofanni 
small mouthful salad. our father sing 

lina xai* Ael waqt ? (to us something now ?) 



148 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

G. Ta seiyidna, min ein toried yatlaf el sent, lemma 

whence come forth sound (nomin. ) when 

el baTn meFan? TeTrif enna barmiel meFan ma 
belly (is) full? Knowest barrel full not 

yatunm xai*. M. Lala, heAe ma yemnafac qaT. 
tinkle hinders at all. 

G. Fa li oCanni iAen ! E'ism illah ! 
Let me sing then ! 



§ 10. TWO TRADESMEN". 

M. Ahah ! e ma teqoum ? eix' heAe el nafas baf d Tolouf ul 
does not arise ? slumber out-coming 

xams? hel ente niar'a, {woman? ^emrajol? or man?) 

e ma texouf el xams ? qoum ! aqoul lee. 

N. La towakiAni. ElbariE inni cont fand Eabiebi 

Excuse me ! The (day) past I was with my friend 

(Saduiqi, SaEubi). Ecelna, xarabna, fariEna wa 

qafadna f and el sofra (ma^ida) ila' nuSf il leil. Ea 
we sat at the tray ? (table) till midnight 

*ana ma jiet ila hona, ilia qarieb min el me^Aena. 
I not came hither, except near the calling to prayer. 

M. MelieE jiddan. El bariE bataltom bi sebab el xarab, 
Very good. Yesterday ye idled by cause of drink 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN AKABIC. 149 

wa el yeum tebTalou bi sebab el naum. Bainama ente 
to-day ye idle sleep. While thou 

heceAe battal, manou yafmel xoflec? manou 

so an idler who does thy business ? who 

yaEcom darac ? e ma lee mar*a wa aulad ? manou 

governs thy house ? a woman {wife). 

yecsiehom ? manou yotfumhom ? "N. Ah ! Rabbona 
clothes them? who feeds them ? our Lord 

ceriem, wa hou el modabbir. Hel yomcin yanse' 

(is) generous he is the director. can he forget 

kalayiqoh ? M. E fa ma qaL fil citeb il faziez : 
his creatures ? Hath he not said in the book precious, 
"Kmel, wa ana osefudac?" E". Mafqoul. Lecin 

Act and I will aid thee ? "Wisely said. 

eix' at mel ? Ana Toul el esbouf fil xofl, wa tefabi bil 
I, length of week business, my toil (is) 

ziyada. Oomm, e ma esteEuqq en e*koA liya yeum, li 
in excess. do not I deserve to take for me a day, 

afraE fieh wa e*col wa axrab mat el asEab ? 
that I may rejoice in it ... . companions. 

M. Sadaqt: xoClec wa tefabec ceGier. 

Thou art right : thy business and toil (is) too much. 

Ya mescien, ceif yomcin taSbor T ala heAe colloh ? Min 
unhappy ! how canst thou endure against all this ? Of 

el SabaE teqoum baf d tolouf el xams : baf d fasl 
a morning thou risest after sunrise : after washing 

el wejh wa el yedain, texrab el qahwe. 



150 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 

Bafdoh, terouE lil Eanout (doccen). (to the shop.) 

^oulima teqfod honec, texouf el nas wa toSaEub 

As long as thou sittest there, companiest 

(maf )hom. Te*koA darahim min heAe wa min heAec. 

Waqt el Aohr te^col wa texrab melieE. Bafd el 

fa'Sr tefloq wa teqfol el doccen ; wa 

afternoon fastenest and padiockest the shop 

lemma yexoufouc *ehl darec fala fatebet il bab, 
when see thee thy household at threshold 

yoEAur lee el ma'ida (sofra Alep.), falaihe el *ecl, 
get ready table, upon it food, 

kamse sitte jonous ; te^col wa texrab ma*? jemaf atec *ecle 
five six kinds thy company food 

taiyibe, wa bil mehl. Wa^emma heAe colloh tefab ! 
nice and at leisure. But all this (is) toil. 

K. Ente taSEac falaiya. M. La : bel etecellem bil Eaqq. 

K. Ana farif ennec tetecellem bil SaEc. (speakest in ridicule). 

Lecin afterif lee el Eaqq ; heAe el solouc elleAi ente qoltoh 
I confess truth procedure 

a el waqt, inni motet aw wad falaihi. Wa^emma, bima 
verily, I am used to it. 'But when 

etelaqa ana maT el a'SEab, fa iaa&c innena ne^col, nexrab 
I meet with comrades, then verily we eat, drink, 

wa nenbasft bi faraE al^am. 

and relax ourselves with mighty joy. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 151 

M. Eix' heAe el faraE el af 5am ? qoum ! waEud yeste^nec 
"What is this mighty joy ? Arise ! some one awaits thee 

fala'l doccen, wa moradoh(en) yaxteri minnec jouk. 
at the shop, his wish (is) to buy woollen cloth. 

Tefal, celimoh. Come and talk to him. 

N. YaSuEE. Ya walad, jieb liya Eawayij i.* 
It is right. Boy ! bring me my clothes. 

P. Eix' min Eawayij ? N. Aftuini qamieja (qamieSa) 

What sort of clothes ? Give me (camicia) a shirt 

naqiya, wa qonbaz diemiey min dakil il Sandouq. 
clean gown futaine (dimity-fustian). 

Sarwali min jouk wa Sadrieyati wa barnousi hona fala'l 
My trowsers my waistcoat hooded cloak 

Eabl. Ein el tarbaux wa el xaxe ? 

rope. Where is the red cap and muslin (turban) ? 

P. Coll xai* [wajid] EaAur. Hehona el jawarieb. 
Everything (ready) Here (are) stockings. 

E tatlob xai 5 " Cairahe ? Dost thou demand anything else ? 

N. Aftuini el Euzem, wa el jezm el jadieda. 
Give me belt boots new. 

P. 'KoAhe : wa houheAe maErama. E tef tej %od 
Take it : lo here a kerchief. Needest thou more 

(ezyad ?) N. La : jieb el ma*, li afsil wejhi. 

P. Eil sefa. Yestenec el rajol. (The man awaits thee). 

* Eawayij, necessaries, is used for one's baggage, also for clothes. 



152 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 

§11. CLOTHIER AND HIS CUSTOMER. 

JS". E ma naxrab el qahwe, ana wa ente, qablama nerouE ? 

M. Ah ! da? nerouE bEa xarb el qahwe. E ma naxraboh fil 

doccen ? E". Yomcin. Lacin moradi naxrab hona. 

M. Ana xarabtoh min el SabaE : hel ente teEsobni 'Sayiman ? 

IS". RouE, 'koA el mifteE wa imxi qoddam, li tefteE el doccen. 

P. Ana rayiE. ^T. Wa naEna warac. M. Ilbis qaba-c.^ 
I (am) going. We behind thee. Put on thy robe. 

K Hel ilbis eEeAi bE farwa? M. Ceif lee Eaje bE farwa ? 
that which fur ? need of far ? 

El yeum, el sokouna ceGiere. 'Koa lee heAih el kafiefe. 

N. Pism IEah ! naronE. P. Selam falaic, ya seiyidi. 

Q,. ®alaic el selam. El tejir e fa marieS ? wa'Ela Cayib ? 
Is the merchant sick ? or absent ? 

P. La ! hou heAe jayi waraya. 

here he is, coming behind me. 

Q. Ceif jayi? Ana qafud hona fala el qahwe fie isti^aroh 
How coming ? I (am) sitting in expectation of him 

min miqdar seftein. Hel yefteE coE yeum heceAe ? 

P. La. Rasoh, heAih el leile, cen youjafoh xai^en; fala 
His head, last night, pained him somewhat 

xan (min xan) heAe, ma jiena f ala '1 f ada. Hou heAe 

jayi. Ana e fa ma qolt lee ? 

* De Braine, Perhaps it is Algerine, in this sense. 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEK AKABIC. 153 

IS". La towakiAid. Ana marie £ xai 5 en, wa raqadt li hede el 

waqt. Q. SuEEatec ! lecin yomcin etf abtec bil ziyada. 
Thy health ! but possibly I tired thee 

IS". La ! bil Hldf (bel) ana hou elleAi moTOub f alaic, wa'emma 
on the contrary, it is I that (am) tiresome to thee, but 

ente istenaitni zeman. 

thou hast waited for me a (long) time. 

Q. Ah! la ictiraG minnoh; (ma obali). Ente tefrif, enna 
(there is) no concern ; I do not mind, knowest, that 

fuidi qarieb; wa moradi e*kod minnec jouk, bihi 
my festival (birthday) I wish to take with which 

afmel qaba. K". AEmar? wa* ilia arjawan? 
I (may) make Red ? or purple. 

Q. Arjawan. N. Hou f andi. Yafali! jieb bastat jouk el 
It is with me. Ali ! bring a strip of 

arjawan. Eix' taqoul fie hede el jouk? E ma hou 

melieE ? Lau cen dort el mediena, ma tolaqi miBliho. 
If you had gone round the city, you meet not its like. 

Q. Melieh ! qadd eix' el Airaf ? N. Bi sitte riyalat. 
how much the ell ? At six dollars. 

Q. Eix' heAe el celam? teEsobni faxieman bi coll xai% 
"What is this saying ? countest me simpleton 

ce^inna ana fie fomri ma xoft jouk, ilia heAe? Wa 
as if I in my life never saw cloth but this? 

heAe el jouk bi sittet riyalat el Airaf ! 



154 



HANDBOOK OP MODERN AEABIC. 



N. Gemenoh heceAe, ya seiyidi. lAe aradt te^koAoh, 'koAoh : 

awema (or not) te^coAoh ? kalliehi. Bil Eaqq, ma tolaqi 

fil mediena collihe jouk mi0l heAe. Soufoh (its wool) 

mi01 Earier, wa launoh zehi. Ah ! ma aEsen el qaba, 
like silk its hue gay. how handsome the robe 

elleti tefmalhe minnoh ! (which you will make of it.) 

Q. SaEuiE, el jouk melieE ; lecin el Gemen fali. 

N. Coll xai* yaEriz seumatoh. (See Bocthor, Yaloir.) 

maintains ? its valuation (claims, gets its price ?) 

Youjad fil bazer jouk bi riyalain, wa youjad bi sitte riyalat. 

Q. JSafam : lacin Aelic aEsen min heAe. . . . (better than.) 

N. Saddiqni, auTa min jouki heAe. 

Believe me, it is inferior to this my cloth. 

Q. E toried te^koA lee kamse riyalat ? (wilt thou take — ) 

N. La kamse : IPenni xaraitoh (ixteraitoh) bi ec9ar. 

Q. Ma yaEtej totf ub rouEae, wala ana rouEui. Akir 

needs not, I tire thy spirit, nor I the end, last 

el celam, ofTui lee kamse riyalat. lAe cont toried, 

'koA el darahim. Incen ma toried, fa ofettix liya 

waEud fairac, yosfufhi bi Eajeti. 

some one other than thee, will aid me in my affair. 

N. ^ala katurac. Ya tera' toEsin ^emrec ! 
At thy pleasure. I hope, wilt well-manage 

Q. Leix' tefmel mafya heceAe ? bil Eaqq, ente tammaf. 
Why actest with me thus ? In truth covetous. 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 155 

N. ^ase toried hedieya minni ; fa 'koA lee el jouk bila Gemen. 
Perhaps a present the cloth without price. 

Q. La : bi darahimi ma to^Tuini ieyaho; fa keif he Ae hedieya? 
for my money thou givest it not ; is this a present ? 

N. Bait heAe el jouk bi kamse riyalat, e fa hou bil darahim ? 
To sell this cloth for five dollars, is that for money? 

^ala dieni, ixteraitoh ana fil zeman il sebiq bi kamse 
On my faith, I bought it myself in former time for five 

riyalat : walacin li^enna ente zebouni, wa Sabart ¥ alaiya 
dollars, but because my customer, waitedst 

heceAe min bocra, 'koAoh bi kamse wa nu'Sf. 

Q. ^ala AJmmeti ma yeswa (is not worth) xai 5 " ecGar min el 

kamse ; wa^emma ezied lee el nu'Sf. 

!N". Cem toried min el eAraf ? Q. Kamset eAra/P. Qies melieE. 
How many ells wishest thou ? Measure (it) 

N. Xouf! inni qistohe temama; kamse. Iqtaf, ya walad, 
See ! I have measured it Cut, boy ! 

hona, wa utwiehe: wa jemief el Gemenhou sebfa 
here, fold it : the whole of the price is 

wa fuxrien riyal wa nu'Sf riyale falaic liya, ya seiyidi. 

Q. ^aiyib ; fa 'koA el foroux. N". Katurac f alaiya. 

§ 12. WITH A TAILOR. 

Q. Moradi, en tofa'S'Sul wa tokayyit liya heAih el jouka. 
I wish you to cut out and sew for me this cloth. 



156 HANDBOOK OE MODEEN ARABIC. 

Lacin lezim en teqieshe, wa tensor imma yettefiq 
But you must measure it, aud look whether fits 

miqdarhe li qameti. B. Cem 1 min el eArof tejieb liya ? 
its size to my stature. How many ells bringest ? 

Q,. Arbaf eArof . B. Sadaqt. J Emma ma yecfie qat. 

Q. Qadd eix' tatlob fauq min heAe ? How much. . .above this ? 

B. Af ouz ezyad nuSf Airaf . (I need more than £ ell.) 

Q,. "Wa fandi Airaf cemil. (a whole ell.) Gomm inna eix' 

tekoA ente fala heAih el ciswa? (for this garment.) 

B. Ma aqdir atlob aqall min kamse wa arbaf uin fuSZa. 
I cannot ask less than 5 and 40 silver. 

Q. SaEE el *emr ; fa abf a9 lee bi yed kadimi el nu'Sf Airaf el 
All right I send my servant 

naqis. E toried o^weddi lee aiian ciswati el fatieqa, 
deficient I hand to thee my old garment 

lecei fala miBlihe tefmel el jadieda ? 

B. La yaEtej : af rif qiyasec : wa ofa'S'Sul lee libs aEsen min 
Is not needed : thy measure : cut out a dress 

heAe. Lecin aqoulec :— Fie f omri ana ma kayyatt 
But I tell thee : In my life I never sewed 

arkaS minnoh. Wa, el coif a,* e fa tof Tuihe liya ? wa^illa 
a cheaper than it. trimming (?) givest it ? or 

aEoTthe min fandi, wa teroddhe liya baf doh. 
shall I put it from my own, and thou repay it ... ? 

* Additional materials, — superfluity. 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 157 

Q. "Wa eix' heAe el eolfa zod (bil ziyada) ? 

B. E ma tefrif, ennoh minxan el sejaf la bodd ruin 0ele9 
knowest not, that for the flounce, no escape from 3 

eArof atlas, bi farxain el Airaf : horn sitte foroux : fa 
ells of satin, at 2 piastres an ell : six piastres : 

el ezrar wa el qaitan Carx : heAe sebfa : wa el Earier 
buttons laces, (loops) seven silk 

robf farx: iAen, colloh sebfa Coroux wa robf. (7J.) 

Q. Ma kammant qaX heAe el tekmien: wa^inni Easebt, en 
I never estimated estimate : but I counted to 

oftui lee, mafada el jouk, kamse wa arbafuin fuSia, 
give thee, beside the cloth, five forty 

wa terodd liya el ciswe cemile mocemmale. 

you give back to me the garment complete, finished. 

B. La yomcin. Fauq tefabi wa ciraya, fa hel aftui lee 
Above my toil wages, I give thee 

ailan sebf a Gemaniya Coroux ? Ente ma ta3onnoh wala 
also 7 or 8 piastres ? Thou dost not think it, nor 

toriedoh minni. (wish it from me.) 

Q. Hel min el lezim, en teEotT el sej af ? (to put the flounce. ) 

B. Eiwa lezim : la bodd minnoh. Wa min farwa, fa cen 
Yes, necessary : no escape from it. And of fur 

aGman minnoh min atlas, in Sar melieE wa jemiel. 
more costly of it than satin, if it were good 

Eix' toried minni, ya seiyidi. 



158 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

Q. AEsen en teEoTT el atlas, wa ma qolt liya tewa 

now). Pa arodd lee el Geman. (I will repay the cost.) 
B. Ana bi kidmatec (at thy service). "Wa maf el selame. 



§ 13. A STATIONER WITH A PAPER MERCHANT. 

A. Selam falaic, ya kawaja ! (0 sir!) 

B. ^alaic e] selam, ya seiyidi el xeik! (sheikh.) 
A. (fandac xai* ceCit (waraq) ? B. ^andi. 

A. Q,add eix' el corras ? 

How much the (quire — De Br.) 

B. On3or el cefit qabla, wa bafdoh etecellem. 

Look at the paper first, and afterwards I will speak. 

A. MelieE : Eull el Sorra. B. HeAe hou el cegi"C : e ma 
Good ! untie the bundle. This is the paper : 

hou Easen ? A. Mafloum, jamiel : fa eix' fala el corras? 

B. Hott liya mieya wa faxara Coroux, wa 'koA lee GelaGa 

wa sittien corras. (110 piastres, 63 quires.) 

A. Ma ya'SuEE heceAe : bel li neterabat awwalan fala coll 
It is not well thus : but rather let us covenant first about each 

rizma, Gomm bafdoh etefeccer cem waEuda e^kod minhe. 
packet, afterwards I will consider how many I take. 

B. ®ala katurac : iAen, toftuini Carxain fala' el corras : fa 

tejid Taxara fie colli rizma. (you will find 10 in . . .) 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 159 

A. Ma yaEtemil : wa hou Sudd Eusebec el sebiq, bil collieya. 
It is inadmissible against thy former reckoning, entirely. 

(Jala ganni, Carx waEud ecBar minma testeEuqq. 

In my opinion, a single piastre (is) more than it deserves. 

B. La : fa^emma ma yokalli'Sni : bel ras maloh ecBar min el 
No : but it does not clear me cost price is more than the 

Carx el waEud. OEsob ente, qadd eix tocellif 
single piastre. Compute thyself, how much it cost 

min Bendiqieya ila hona. 
from Venice to this place. 

A. Ente tafrif, fa ^ente tef tebir resmalac : lecin ma falaiya, 

knowest considerest: but it does not rest on me, 

en etedakal fie *emarac : ana el xari. lAe aradt 
that I meddle in thy affair : I (am) the buyer. If thou wish 

tebief, fa hie? liya. lAe lem toried, fa qoul liya : 

"Yonfum Allah!" Fa e*koA kamse rizem, fie coll 

rizma f axara ceraries ; wa of tuic Gemanien Carx. 

B. Bil Eaqq, ente ma, fomrec, xoft cefit aEsen min heAe. 

A. Ma ra*eit aEsen : 'SaEuiE : lecin xoft ceGier miGloh. In 

xa* 'llah, yeji liya el naff elleAi ja liya min fairoh. 

B. 'Koa lee aiSan kamse rizem. (take 5 packets more.) 

A. La: heAe yecfi liya. Bafdama estenfif minnoh, wa yeji 

liya el folous, eji lee marra *okra'. Ael weqt ma baqi 

fandi darahim bil cefaya. La : wa dieni ! 
remains not . . . money ... by my faith ! 



160 HANDBOOK OP MODEEtf ABABIC. 

B. Ma obali. (Ma falaiya. Ma fala bali.) aSbor falaic. 
I do not care. (It is not on my mind.) I wait for thee. 

A. Fa cem xehr taSbor ? B. A*Sbor Talaic xehrain. 

how many months wilt wait ? 2 months. 

A. E^koA, incen ta'Sbor sittet axhor. (if ... 6 months.) 

B. Sittet axhor ! eix' min el celam hou heAe ? 

A. Lecin ma okalli'S nefsi fie xehrain. Min ein ajieb el 
But I do not clear myself in 2 months. "Whence 

Gemanien riyal el okra' ? El mablaf ma hou min el 
the 80 other dollars ? The sum is not (a matter) to be 

mostehen. Lala ! Ma yomcin ; Aqall ma yecoun, 

made light of. It cannot be ; the least that. . * 

a^lob GeleG axhor. B. Ismaf liya. Aqoul lee tarieq 

e*kar, aBsen min heAe. Aqsit ma bainana, wa ente 
another way, Apportion what is between us 

toufieni el dain bil qosout. A. Fa ceif yaSlaE bainana ? 
shall pay me instalments. shall it be settled 

B. Aqoul lee. Ente 3aKub doccen, wa ma yeji lee el darahim 

master of a shop, comes money 

daffa waHuda, bel qalielan qalielan, f ala qadar el bait 
single stroke, little by little, according to sale 

wa el xira'. Emma, li'en noshil falaina el tarieq, 
and purchase. But, for that we may ease to us the way, 

li naqsit el Gemanien riyal, Kaqq el kamse rizem el 
let us distribute the 80 dollars (due to) the 5 packets 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 161 

Seniya, fala Oemaniya farx coll el jomfa: wa bafd 
xehrain wa nu$f fa la yabqa liya fandec xai*. El 
'foroux el Oemanien el oula', fa tedfafhe heAih el sef a. 
Eix' teqoul fie heAe ? A. MelieE. 



§ 14. SPECIMEN OF PEOSE WITH FEW VERBS. 

TeEt jins el *ibl toujad naufan; cile-homa 
Under tbe genus of Camels are found 2 kinds ; each of the two 

ceriem el Tabaf, 'r^uim el naff li soccen barrieyat 
generous in stamp, immense of utility, dwellers desart 

Afrieqieya, wa bilad el ^arab wa fairahe min el bilad elleti 
of Africa country Arabs others than it of districts which 

teEt katt el SeraTan. Fa e^Ead homa el Dohemij, — wa 
under line Cancer. one of the two Bactrian Camel 

hou aou senamain. Fa el e*kar el Jemal, — fa hou aou 

two humps other Camel endowed with 

senam waEud, wa a^am qouwaten min el Dohemij, wa 
one hump mightier in strength than 

ecBer wojoudan minnoh. 

more abundant in existence than he. 

"Wa lil Jemal ra"s Safier bil nesebat ila t^m jo00etoh, 
camel has head small in proportion to great size carcass 

wa OAnan qaSuiraten, wa fonq tawiel, monEani. Wa 
two ears short neck long flexible. 

11 



162 HANDBOOK OF MODERN" ARABIC. 

irtifafoh ila Airwat senamoh naEou sitt aqdam wa nuSf. 
elevation to top hump about six feet half. 

Wa laun wabaroh, fie qorb min el sen am, qatim ; wa fie 
hue shag in neighbourhood of dull, dim ; 

se*ir jismoh, launoh ce*inna Eomra kafiefe. Wa liho 
rest body as if red light. he has 

Aenab tawiel wa manasim mofar^'aEa monxiqqa ; walecinnehe 
tail long pad-feet distended split and yet they (are) 

fair monfa'Sula. Wa fie seqoh toujad sitt foqad. Wa liho 
not separated. his leg are found six knots. 

mif da kamise, fair el mif d el arbaf , elleti hie li coll 1 
a stomach fifth without stomachs four which are to every 

Eaiwan mojtirr. Wa hou labour f ala '1 f a^x wa el jouf , 
animal ruminant. he is patient against thirst hunger 

wa f ala raff el afba el Geqiele seiran seriefan fie 

lifting (carrying) packages heavy a march swift in 

sefarat tawiele. 
journeys long. 

§ 15. NEWSPAPER EXTRACTS. 

1. Q,ad 3aherat Earieqa fil xehr il maiu fie 

Already appeared a conflagration in the month past in 

Ezmier ; wa bil rafm fan mobadarat il Eocouma li 
Smyrna, and in spite of the hastening of the Government to 

utfaihe, uEteraq bihe mi*ya wa kamsoun doccen wa 
extinguish it, was burnt by it 100 and 50 shop and 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 163 

bafi" maEallet. Wa ceAelic fil xehr il 

several places (blocks of houses). And likewise in the month 

maiu qad ixteddat el f awaSuf fie xoTout 

past became intense the gales (storms) on the coasts of 

Rodos ; fa Aehib hi *e6'rihe baf £ el sefayin. 
Rhodes ; vanished in their track a portion of the ships. 

2. SaEuifa fie Filadelfia axherat, naqjan 

A (newspaper) sheet in has published by transcript 

fan moresela waradat ileihe, Euseb 

from a correspondence (which) arrived to it a computation of 

el Aeheb el leAi karaj min California wa Australia bi moddat 
the gold which came forth from the space of 

il f axar senien il *ekiera : fa cen sebaf mi*ya milyaun franc, 
the ten years last and it was 7 100 million 

3. El Matjar. Jamief el aSnaf, wa el esfar 

Commerce. All descriptions (of articles), and the rates 

f ala Ealihe, lem tofraq xai^en fan el esbouf 

according to their condition ; did not differ at all from week 

ul maiu ; wa lasieyima woqouf el Earace bi sebab 

past especially the stoppage of movement {is) by cause 

il amtar il fazierat, el leti hebatat fie heAe el esbouf. 
of the rains copious which have fallen in this week. 

4. TJflan. Narjou el baf S min el moxtericien, el leAien 
A notice. We entreat that part of the subscribers who 

liFen lem yadfaf ou Gemen el jornal fan heAe el f am, 

hitherto have not paid the price of the journal {for) this year, 



164 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 

en yobadirou bi urSal Aelic ; li^ennoh qad fat el 

that they hasten to present it ; because already is passed the 

waqt el mofayyan lil daff . 
time appointed for paying: 

5. Inna el vapour el Fransewi Sey <y 'id-Nous, farrafnacom 
As to the steamboat French we informed you 

Tannoh sebiqan, enna seEuboh vapour e^kar; li^enna 

concerning it formerly that (is) towing it (nom.) another because 

'eletoh cenet tex" aTtalat. Gomma fehemna min qabitanoh, 
its engine was disabled. Next we learned from its captain 

ennehom "5'allaEouhe, wa Sar bihi el cefaya lil 

that they have mended it, is become sufficiency (ability) for 

sefar. Fa sefar neher el sebet el maSu. 

the voyage. it set oif the day of Saturday past. 

6. SeEat el Eoboub motenaxxfta jiddan, wa qad tafalet 
Area (Market) grain(s) active (lively) very have risen 

esrar el Euntat il MuSriey il tojjariey min 32 ila 33 el 
the rates of wheat Egyptian mercantile from to 

ceile. El Earier qaHel, lecinnoh r &yij : 

measure (tub). silk (is) scarce, but it (is) selling-fast 

el beladiey min 170 ila 190 el oqqa. El manifatoura, lem 
native ounce. manufacture did 

tezel esf arhe motemessece, maf ennoh lem yezel el 

not cease its rates holding fast, although ceased not the (cargo) 

warid mottaSulan. 

arriving continuous (the arrival continued incessant.) 



HAOT)BOOK OF MODEBN - AEABIC. 165 

7. Marsielia fie 4 Edar. El zeit ; Sar falaihi jomlet 
Marseilles on March. oil a number 

mabyoufat, wa lasieyima HI Saboun. El simsin motenaxxit 
of purchases especially for soap. sesame lively 

jiddan, wa inbaf minnoh janib fa3uim: wa qad tafalet 
is sold extent (quantity) have risen 

esfaroh. Ea hie bi sufr 60. 
its rates. it (is) at rate 

8. Janab Adabizedeh xaraf bi famel xaracet 

His honour has begun to make a partnership 

cerkanet Cazl, moqassem resmalhe fala 500 

of a factory of spinning, being divided its capital over 

sehman, wa coll 1 sehm 2000 farxan. Wa ibteda* 

lots (shares) every lot piastres. was begun the 

ictiteb el esma. "Wa heAih el xarace la taqbal 

enrolment of the names. this partnership does not accept 

xarieq<m fair mostentun fie Damaxq. Wa el cerkana tedour 
a partner except domiciled the factory is seeking 

f ala el may. 
after water. 

9. Jelelet melicet Ingilterra qad katabat fie Allemania 
Majesty queen of England had betrothed in Germany 

uEda' binathe li *emier Hesse Darmstad ; wa el Lord 
one of her daughters prince 

Palmerston Ea£ar li Baries, wa isteqam bihe arbaf wa 
was present at Paris, (pop.) stayed there 4 

tuxrien sef a bi moEadaGet ceGiera. 
20 hours in interviews many. , , 



166 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC 

10. Yeniesia wa nawaEuihe qad woiufat bil taESuinat 
Yenetia its precincts are placed fortifications 

il metiene, wa^in tecon lem ta5lier fala el Numse 
substantial, although has not appeared to Austria 

hi*yat Earb fie I'Talia. 
a case of war against Italy. 

11. Sardienia "ellafat jaixain, el waEud ittejah li 

has made up two armies; the one fronts to 

naEuyat el Mincio bi ri*eset el jineral Marmora, wa el Oeni li 
the side (frontier) headship general the second 

naKuyat el Bo bi riyeset Cialdini wa jineralain fairoh. 

the Po two generals beside him. 

Wa qad ^oniirat kamset f axara firqa min jonoud, el mo-Eafa^at 
are under command 15 detachment troops National 

el ^ehlieya, bil tewejjoh ila maraciz moktelifa. 
Guard to front centres (sites) diverse. 

12. Beirout. Mese el Mmis el maSu, qad istedfa' EaJrat 

Evening of Thursday past invited (nomin.) 

SaEub el daula Fouad Baxa, janab ma^mourie 

owner ? of lordship their honours (accus.) the legation 

wa qanaSul jeneralieyat el dowal il fakiema lil faxa. Wa 
Consuls General of the Great Powers to supper. 

cenet waliema Eafila., QaSouhe bi coll 1 sorour in . 

banquet fully- attended. They ended it with all joy. 

13. Wa qad ^ayyanat daulatoh neher el i0nain 

appointed his lordship {nom.) (accus.) Monday 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 167 

wa neher el kamies min coll 1 esbouf li mowajahet ro^ose el 
Thursday of every week to meet the chiefs of the 

milel wa aSKab el maSaliE wa el dafawi. "Wa se-yetexarra- 
sects men of business causes. they will be 

foun ledaihi min el sefat il sedise Katte' el sefat il 

honoured (with interview) hour sixth until 

tesifa : wa yadkoloun bi moujib il noumero el leti 

ninth they will enter by virtue of the numero which 

toft a, lihom fala el bab. 

will be given to them at the door. 

14. Risele min Marsielia fie 28 el maSu toflin enna el 
A dispatch from Marseilles of the past notifies that 

ficr el famm fie Franse ittejih ila hedou min jihet 
general opinion France turns its- eye to tranquillity in respect 

netiejet moqabalet Yarsouvia : wa *enna heAih 

to the result of the personal meeting at Warsaw 

el moqabala intehet fie 26 el xehr ; wa enna el ufianat el 
was ended vin. of the month the notices 

siyesieya mo^umina. 

political (are) confident. 

15. El tejrieda el Franse wieya fie Coxin Suin qad 

expedition French Cochin China 

temellecet fie 13 Mesen fala mediena Mietou. Fa 
had possession on the 13th April of the city 

cenet lihe mercez<ew metiemm. 

it {the city) was to it {the expedition) for a firm centre. 



168 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 

16. Qad cotib min mediena Londra, enna el Lord Jon 
Had been written from city London, 

Rousel, n^ur karijieyat Ingilterra, qal fie uEda' jilset 
overseer of foreign affairs said in one of the sessions 

majlis el fomoum, ennoh la yara', wala 

of the Assembly of Commons that he does not see not even 

min jihe waEuda, kaXaTan, yakxi minnoh fala el 361E 
from any side (any) danger from which he fears for the peaGe 

el famm maT Ingilterra. Ea^inna la mesiele, f anhe 
general with In fact (there is) no question from which 

yomcin en yenjim el katar. 

it is possible that danger may arise. 

17. Eisele min Corfou, uEda el jezeyir el seb^, aflanat 

A dispatch one of the seven islands has notified 

bi intixab qutel bain *eheli el mediena 

outburst combat between the families (population) of the city 

wa Tasecir el mo-Eafa3at il Ingliezieya ; Aehib 

and the soldiers of the guard (garrison) English ; in which 

bihi f uxroun jerieEan min el farieqain. Wa Aelic fie 21 Eyar. 
came off 20 wounded from the two parties. May. 

18. El akbar el *ekiera. Akbar Tourien toflin, enna el 

news last. News of Turin notify 

jaix el LEaHani woJuf fala qadam il SolE. Wa la raib 
army is placed upon a footing of peace, no strife (doubt) 

enna Aelic daliel 'Jala nieyat jelelet il melic Yictour 

is a proof for the intention of the majesty of king 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 169 

^amanou^el fala dawam il S61E wa el selam. ¥a li heAe 
Emmanuel for continuance therefore 

irteEat el efcar min jihet Earb fie Italia, 

gained repose (men's) thoughts in respect to war 

19. Bisele min Tourin toflin, enna el Qont Cevour, na^ur 

karijieyat Italia, qad waqaf fie Eyar marie&an. Bomm 
foreign affairs fell in May sick. Next 

tewaradat el akbar bi izdiyad marSoh; Eatte' 

kept arriving news (nom.) with increase of his disease until 

akbarat risele fie 6 Kazieran, ennoh qad teweffa' fie 

reported a letter (nom. ) June departed in the 

SabaE Aelic el yeum. 
morning of that day. 

20. Inna mausim el aflal jaiyid fie coll 1 mecen. 

season (crop) produce (is) excellent in every place. 

Wa el ma^moul, enna esfar el Eunta se-tecoun bi raka 

the thing hoped (is) that rates of wheat will be in cheapness 

fa5uim, lem tente3uroh biladona fil 

vast, which has not seen? our country (nom.) in 

senien il *ekiera. 
the last years. 

21. Ce Aelic mausim el Earier jaiyid: innama el xaraniq, 
So too the season of silk only ? cocoons 

esfarhe ePen bi fain il nozoul ; wa hie min suf r 20 ila 23 el 
at present crisis of decline rate 

oqqa. Wa el Earier el beladiey 210. 
ounce. native 



170 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 

22. La yokfa', enna el Qont Cevour qad tewefYa' fie 6 
It is no secret, that Count departed life 

Eazieran bil sefat il sebifa min el SabaE fie mediena Tourin. 
June hour 7 morning 

¥a li heAih el moSuibat il mow^ellima qad istafraqat Italia 
at this affliction painful is plunged 

bi^esrihe bi aGwab el Eudad, el leAi bihi xareche 

in entirety in garments of mourning wherein shares with her 

baqyat el xofoub aiSan : li^enna faqd (foqoud) heAe el 
the rest of the peoples also because the loss of this great 

? a3uim qad *e09ar fie coll il qoloub ; Eatte' inna afda 
(man) has made a print on all hearts ; so that verily the foes of 

ittiEad Italia nefsehom a5herou el *esef, bil ixtirec 
the union of Italy themselves displayed sorrow in partnership 

ma? benie' watanhom, fala faqd Aelic el xehim. 

with the sons of their home at the loss of this energetic (man). 

EPen yafrif ^ehl el <ro$r miqdar 

Now knows the people (nom.) of the age the scale (accus.) 

failoh wa semou himmetoh bi teqaddom 

of his merit and loftiness of his purpose by the progress of 

biladoh : fa^inna cenet afceroh el ^ekiera (wa hou f ala 
his country : and in fact were his last thoughts (while he (was) 

firax il nizef) mottejihe li SalaE biladoh wa 

on the bed of agony) turned towards the good order of 

ziy adat nej aEuhe . 

the increase of its prosperity. 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. • 171 

23. Majlis Vienna qad *ecced utalet el 
Assembly of Yienna had confirmed prolongation of 

SolE min jihet Italia: fa wejh afmaloh ila el uSlaEat 
peace on the side of aspect of its deeds (is) to reforms 

il malieya, wa uSlaE kalal bilad il Majar. 

financial and the reform of disorder of the country Magyars. 

24. Inna daulat Pranse qadd aqarrat bi mafrifat 

dynasty of Prance has avowed its acquaintance* with 

memlecet Italia, cema axher Aelic SaEuifat 

the kingdom of Italy, as has published {ace.) newspaper 

el Patrie wa el Monitour. [* i.e. has recognized.] 

{mm.) of 

25. El gazette t el resmieya fie Vienna axherat qarara 

gazette official has published a statement 

min nagur maliyat el Mmse, yoflim enna fayidat 

of the overseer of finance of Austria (which) notifies interest 

el qarS ul ^ehliey todfaf min bafd Mesen bi f 6mla(?) fuSAuiya. 
of the national debt shall be paid after April in coin silver. 

26. Bina^an *rala *emr Eairat *5aEub el nagarat il jaliele, 
In pursuance of the order of oversight august 

qad modd fir'? min silc il telefraf ila seraya el 

is extended a branch . wire of telegraph palace of 

ma^mourieyat il mosteqilla, li c ejl il mokabara maf el 
the Commission plenipotentiary communication 

Eocoumet il senieya fie Damaxq bil mawadd il resmieya. 
Government sublime on matters official. 



172 HANDBOOK OP MODERN ABABIC. 

27. E^Kad f olema Prousia (Borousia) qad qaddam, bafd el 
One of the savans of Prussia has presented 

baEa0, ila jamfuyat el mafarif fie Berlin, fadad 
research to the Association of Connaisances the number 

xof oub il cornet il ^erSuiya. Fa qaddam el maf dal, 

of the people of the terrestrial globe. average(?) 

el leAi afta-h, bi milyar wa mTyetein wa Gemaniya wa 
which he gave, 1000 million two hundred eight 

Oemanien milyeunan. Oomma Kaseb el anwaT el 
eighty million. Then he computed the kinds (races) 

insenieya bil inqusem. 
human separately. 

28. TJflan. Nofiin ila' el jomhour, enna el kawaja 
A notice. We notify to the public the monsieur 

^abd Allah Easoun el barr? fie fenn il taSwier bil 
who excels in the art of delineating with 

yed, wa el monfarid bil ittiqan heAih el Sanafa bi heAih 
the hand the unique in the perfection of this profession 

el bilad, — mostefudd li famal coll 1 matloub yoqaddam 

(is) ready to perform every demand (which) is presented 

liho min el taSawier il moktelifa. Wa ce Aelic, youjad 

to him of drawings (paintings) diverse So too, is found 

fandoh, teKt el talab, f udda min el ta'Sawier il lazima lil 
under demand a number of drawings necessary 

ceneyis wa lil boyout. "Wa hou, ? ada fan ittiqan 
churches houses. besides the perfection of his 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 178 

Sanaf atoh, yabie? bi sufr rakuis. Fa man arad bi talab 
workmanship sells at a rate cheap, whoever wishes to demand 

minnoh xai^en, li yaESur ila mecteb 

of him (any) thing let him present himself at the office 

SaEuifatna. 
of onr paper. 

29. Earieqat Tooley Street, el leti naxiyat fie Londra fie 
The conflagration of which arose 

22 Eazieran, cenet lem tezel motewa'Sala(ten) li Eadd 1 
June did not cease continuing to the limit of 1st 

Temouz fie ma bain arbafat eswaq, EaiOoma* cenet ibtedat. 
July between four streets where it had begun. 

30. Marsielia fie 6 Temouz. La axfal f ala el Earier. El 
Marseilles on 6 July. No dealings in silk. 

qar£ el foGmaniey 77. 
Ottoman loan 

31. Inna KaSrat SaEub-el daula Daoud Baxa, leilet el 

arbafa il maiuya, .ejab iltimes el kawaja Jarjis Madwar, 
"Wednesday accepted the entreaty of Mr. Georgius 

fa xarraf menziloh lil Taxa. "Wa cenat leile zehiya bil 
honoured his dwelling supper. a night gay with 

anwar wa elet el tarb : fa qaiat daulatoh 

lights instruments of emotion ended (it) his lordship (nom.) 



* EaiGoma, wherever, is classical ; but EaiG, where. Catafago gives 
EaiGoma, where, -which seems to be common, but less correct. 



174 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

mesroura(ten) bi ma teqaddam lihe min el kadamat. 
delighted with what was presented to (it) of services. 

32. Inna el zienat el leti Sarat fil Istenat el 5>alieya, bi 
As to adornment which was in Sublime Place, on 

format el jolous el sefuid el homayouniey, cenat 
occasion of the sitting (on throne) happy imperial, it was 

f ala faya ma yecoun min el behjat, el leti a5herathe 
extremity of what may be of delight displayed 

jemief el *eheli min el milel il moktelifa fie jamief xawarrf 
all the families of the sects diverse in all the roads 

el Istena wa maEallathe wa nawaEuihe dakilan wa karijan; 
places precincts within without 

Eatte' cen ranien el afraE wa el sorour yowa*Sul el *efaq 

so that echo (tinkle) of joys delight reached horizon 

mokbiran bi afraE el *ommat, el leti lem yecon nauf min 
declaring joys nation, which there was no kind of 

meserrat, ilia wa a5heratoh bi ibtihej f a3uim. 
joyfulness but it displayed it with mighty glee. 

33. JNeher el e^Ead fie 7 Temouz, qad ja* EaSrat 'SaEub el 
The day of Sunday July came 

daula Qabutan Baxa ila menzil EaSrat sefier daulat 
Gate-holder Chief lodging ambassador 

Ingilterra el fakiema, Sir Henry Bulwer ; (el leAi ufterah 

mighty (on whom supervened 

marS lezemoh el firax ;) lecei yeftaqid 

illness (which) caused him to keep his bed) to inquire after 



HANDBOOK OP MODERN AEABIC. 175 

aEwal *SuEEatoh min ladon EaSrat il Aet il xahenieyat il 
the state health on the part of personage regal 

jeliela. *Emma EaSrat el sefier fa cen mamnounan jiddan li 
augnst. But ambassador obliged at 

heAe el iltifat il f^uim ; wa terejja EaSrat SaEub el daula 
attention besought 

Qabutan Baxa, en yoqaddim texeccoratoh wa mamnounieyatoh 
present his thanks obligation 

ila janib il farx il molouciey ; cema rawah morasil 

to the side of throne royal as narrated it a correspondent 

min el Istenat il ^alieya ila jornal Esmier. 
from Sublime Place to journal Smyrna. 

34. AEwal Ameriece lem tezel bil irtibec il f^uim 
Circumstances of continued in entanglement vast 

min jihet il Earb bain el janoub wa el ximal. Wa liPen 
in respect to the war south north. hitherto 

lem yeterajjah el na*5r li e*Ead, wa leis siwa' el 

did not preponderate victory there is nothing hut 

aSrar el jesiema lil farieqain, el leti laEaq te^Gierohe 
huge losses two parties of which has reached the impress 

bi ecGar aqsem el cor^e, li sebab taftuil il 

to most parts of the globe by reason of the disabling of the 

matejir il motefalliqa maf tile el bilad. 
commerces connected with that country. 

35. MaEacim Ingliezieya. Inna el Eumar, la yejib 
Courts of Justice English. As for the ass, not behoves 



176 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

en naGqol falaihi ecGar min el insen. ¥a liAelic, teEarracet 
that we load on him more than therefore was stirred 

fairat el Tabatuiya Clark fie e*Ead eswaq Londra, 
the zeal of the policeman in one of the streets of 

EaiGom# nagar Eumlran mescienan, yaEmil fauq 

(EaiG, where) he saw an ass wretched (who) carries above his 

Taqatoh Eumlan Geqielan. Wa mat heAe, fa cen SaEuboh 
strength load heavy. in spite of his owner 

(el mosemma' "William Abbot) seciban fala heAe el Eaiwan 
named ponring on this animal 

el mescien wabilan min el Sarb il xadied fala ra^soh wa 
wretched a shower of beating violent on head 

? uSamoh wa janboh wa jamief jawariE jesedoh ; Eatte' cen el 
bones side all limbs of body until 

dam^ yesiel minnoh min coll 1 mecen. Fa elqa' el qabS fala 
blood streams place. he laid arrest 

"SaEuboh Abbot ; Gomma meGGeloh J emam el qaiu. 

his owner ; then submitted him in presence of magistrate. 

Pa se^eloh qayilan : 
he asked him saying : 

(Qdlu.) u Li maAe ^eAAeit heAe el Eaiwan?" 

Why hast thou illused this animal ? 

(Abbot.) " Ceif tosemmi heAe Eaiwanan ? wa hou 

How dost thou name this an animal ? and he is 

Eumar ; la ecGar. 
an ass ; no more. 



HANDBOOK OF 1TODEEN AKABIC. 177 

Q. " Wa asonn, enna el ecGar tewaEEoxan min el iGnain, 
I think, that the greater in brutality of the two 

leis hou el Eumar. Wa lecin li maAe aujafteho bi heAe 
is not the ass. but why hast thou pained him on this 

el miqdar ? Ea hel bi heAih el wasiTa yamxi ecGar ?" 
scale "Will he by this means walk more ? 

A. " La ! bel bil Sudd, cen yanam. "Wa lecin ana 
No : on the contrary, he went to sleep. Yet I did 

ma aujaftoh." 
not pain him. 

Q. "Ente iarabteho fala ra^soh wa fala ^uSamoh, 
T»hou didst beat him on his head and bones 

Eatte sel el dam 5 " min jiraEoh." 
until streamed his wounds. 

A. " Ah bah! heAe leis bi xai* fala el Eumar. Ea *inni 
Ah bah ! this is nothing In fact I (am) 

maujouf ecGar minnoh; li^enna imrati waledat, 

pained more than he ; for my wife has given birth 

wa lem tafad taqdir en tafmel famelan, maf enni 
has not been longer able to do work although I (am) 

bi Cayat il uEtiyaj ila kidmethe. 
in extreme need of her service. 

EuinaiAin teqaddam el Aabatuiya, wa qal : 
Just then came forward the policeman, and said : 

" Ya moula^i! inna el Eumar, qaddamtoh 

master, as for the ass, I have presented him (brought 

12 



178 HANDBOOK OF MODERN ARABIC. 

ila bab il maEcema. Pa *in aradt en tefEaSoh, 
him) to the door of the Court. if thou wish to examine him, 

qoum bina, li nangor bi eiy Eale hon." Wa lil Eal 
get up with us, that we see in what state he (is). instantly 

karaj el qaSu Cenouces, maf eetim sirrihi wa coll 1 
went out the cadi Knox ? with his secretary 

mowa53ufeihi li ziyarat il Kumar il mescien, el leAi cen 
his fuctionaries to visit the wretched ass, who was 

bil jehd yestaTuif el woqouf f ala qawayimoh. "Wa Euinima 
scarcely able to stand on his legs. as soon as 

raja'rou li mecenihom, qal el qaiu ila el moxteci 

they returned to their place the (man) complained 

falaihi: "Ente waEx : fa *innec bi coll 1 qasewa wa 
against : Thou (art) a brute thou cruelty 

CaSab Aarabt heAe el Eaiwan el mescien. Ea aEcom 
violence didst beat I judge 

faleic bil sijn xehran: wa ete^essef li ceuni 

against thee with prison for a month I regret at my being 

lem aqdir ejid lee quSa/San al^am." 
unable to find a punishment greater. 

Fa karaj el maEcoum Talaihi; wa hou yaqoul 

went out the (man) judged against he says 

motemarmiran : "El Eumar ma hou xai*: wa maf heAe, fa 
grumbling is nothing for all that, 

"inni qad Sarabt imrati ecGar ; wa lem yoEcem 

I have beaten my wife no(thing) was judged 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN AKABIC. 179 

falaiya, ilia bi Oemaniyat eiyam fil sijn." 

against me, except with eight days in prison. 

36. Yoqal, enna el Ab el Moqaddas qad nal SuEEatoh 
It is said, Father Holy has obtained his health 

el temma, wa mozmif en yoEafu3 fala siyasetho, el leti 
complete he is hastening to attend to his administration 

etba<rne(?) li Eadd ePen. 
to the limit of now. 

37. Inna EaSrat SaEub el sefada 9orya Baxa, moteSarrif 

his honour, lord of felicity, ruler, rector 

el Qads el xarief, qad qaddam li kidmat il 

of Jerusalem the noble, has presented to the service of the 

jonoud il xahenieya baClain wa jawadain ; wa 

troops regal two mules two steeds (chargers) 

qob(b)ilet teqaddametoh heAih bi coll 1 maE50U5uiy. 
was accepted his present happiness. 

38. Inna EaSrat SaEub el daula wali Ezmier, qad 

governor of Smyrna 

manaf tabafat Caznat Armenieya, 5aharat bil 

has hindered printing poem ? (which) appeared 

moddat il *ekiera bi tile el mediena, b'ism "El Zehra" 

space of time latest in that city, with name 

li^enna cenet tobifat bi doun istie^Aen au rok$a min el 
it was printed without asking leave or permission 

Eocouma. 
government. 



180 HANDBOOK OF MODEEtf AEABIC. 

39. Neher el e^Ead fie 11 Ab, fand el sef at il Gemina ilia 

Sunday August hour S m all but 

kamse daqayiq, EadaGat fie Ezmier rajfa qawieya min 
5 minutes occurred Smyrna shock strong 

zelzelet il *er2L 
quake earth. 

40. Cotib min Eidien el celam eP"eti : — Inna el eGmar 
"Was written discourse following fruits (crop) 

el tien tesqu^ min el afSan dayiman : wa qad qiel, enna nu$f 
figs drop boughs always it was said half 

el maESoul qad Aehib bi heAih el wasita ; wa enna, el leAi 
crop is gone means that what 

baqa, radi jiddan ; wa coll heAe, min el mari el leAi 
remained, bad (is) from the disease 

istaEwaz f ala heAih el eGmar. 
has taken possession of this crop. 

41. El simsim wa el qotn bi Eale jaiyida fil waqt 

sesame cotton (are) in excellent condition 

il EaSur : innema rieE el ximal, el leAi hebb bi heAe el 
present only wind north has blown 

esbouf, qad aSarr jiddan bil zeitoun, wa ceser ceGieran min 
week has hurt olives has broken much 

aC'Sanoh. (his boughs?) 

42. El Earr xadied jiddan, Eatte' *innoh la yoTaq ; wa 

heat intense so that even it is intolerable 



HANDBOOK OE MODEEN AEABIC. 181 

zelezil el *er£ motewaSule. ¥a qad ax? ama bi Gemaniya 
quakes of earth continuous we have felt eight 

rajfet bi moddat set at qaliele. 
shocks space of hours few. 

43. SeEat el Eb'boub moteEassenat el aEwal. El 
Area (Market) of grain (is) improved 

manifatoura lem tezel motenaxxuta : wa^emma mal el 
manufactures lively, active goods of the 

qabban, fa aqall Earace minhe. 

large * scales, less movement of them. * Heavy goods. 

44. Jelalet el Imperatour Napolion qad tewejjah min 
Majesty has turned his face {set off) 

Paries ila Yiexi fie Eranse ; wa qabaletoh el *eheli bi 
Paris Vichy confronted him the people 

ibtihej 'f^uim. 
delight 

45. Akbar Italia el janoubieya toflin bi qalaqil jadieda j 
News southern inform disturbances new 

wa enna el jineral Cialdieni noSub qayidan li jaix il 
that general is appointed leader army of the 

janoub : wa yete^emmeloun enna EoSouroh fie Napoli 
south they consider {expect) his presence in Naples 

se-yohemmid el hiyaj. 
will quell the uproar. 

46. Lem yezel el uSturab motemeccinan fie aqTar 
Did not cease commotion growing strong regions 



182 HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 

Ameriece; wa lem tezel el Earb el ^ehlieya toheddid el 
of America war domestic threatens 

jamieT min el farieqain. 
whole two parties. 

47. Inna fomdat bilad el Majar qaddamat li jelalet Im- 

(Diet) of Hungary presented to Majesty 

peraTour il Numse el fari el moteXammin tetallobat 
Austria address containing demands 

biladihom : wa aufadathom jelaletoh bi ufta el jawab 
of their promised them to give answer 

fala* ma, bihi SaliE el memlece wa kair el xafb el 
according to the interest kingdom good plebs 

fomoumiey. * According to that wherein (is) the interest, etc. 

common. 

48. YoqaL enna el Eocoumat el Pransewieya qad uf temadat 
It is said that government has resolved 

en toxayyid miena fascerieya b'ize jezierat el Dirli, — afni, 
to establish a harbour military opposite island I mean 

ma-ham Brest wa Xerbouj, — maf famel maidan fesieE, 
between besides making area spacious 

yomcinoh en yesef arbafuin ^elf jondiey. 
which may possibly contain 40,000 soldier. 

49. YelouE ennoh $ar el uftumad fala naSb Mousiou 
It is evident the resolve to appoint Monsieur 

Bandieni sefieran fauq el fada, wa mof temidan mofawwalan, 
ambassador beyond custom trustee entrusted 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN" AEABIC. 183 

li daulat Franse b'ize memlecet Italia el jadieda ; wa 
to govern* coram kingdom new 

Mousion Bicera sefieran li Italia fie Franse. 

50. Inna SuEEat janab sefier daulat Ingilterra b'ize 

health of the Sire Ambassador of coram 

el bab il f ali qad ittejehet lil teqaddom ; wa yoqal, 

Porte High has faced round towards* advancing 

ennoh se-yeAheb li tafyier il hewa li^ejl nawal 

that he will depart to change the air for the sake of attaining 

SuEEatoh el temma. 

his health complete. * Has taken a turn for the better. 

51. E'Ead vapourat el Messejerie el Fransewieya, el 
One of steamboats Messagerie 

mosemma' Prouisien [bi Kawiesien ?] cen montasaran min Souria 
named Perousine ? was expected from Syria 

monA neher il iGnain el maAu. Wa miefadoh, en 

ever since Monday last. its promise (of time) (was) 

yeAheb Geni yeum ila Marsielia ; wa lil^en lem yaSul. 
that it go 2 nd day to hitherto it has not arrived. 

Wa Aelic, li EadiGa jarat fie ^eletoh, fa 

that (was), for an accident (which) happened in its engine 

^ekkaratoh fie Eodos. "Wa^emma xaEnoh, fa qad ja* bihi 
retarded it at Ehodes. But its cargo, came with it 

el vapour el Eousi, el mosemma' Xersones. 
the Russian steamer, named Chersonese. 



184 HANDBOOK OP MODERN" ARABIC. 

52. NawaEu Teselia motemettifa bil hedou 
Borders (Tracts) of Thessaly (are) enjoying repose 

wa el raEat el temma, bi himme wa funayat EaXrat SaEub 
rest complete, care providence owner of 

el daula wa el behe 'Yayib Baxa. 
lordsbip brilliancy 

53. Jelelet melic el Swied, bafd ziyaretob Paries, qad zer 
Majesty Sweden, after bis visiting Paris bad visited 

mediena Londra, wa dofa' lil faxa fand SaEub el semou, el 
was asked to supper bigbness 

Lord Palmerston. 

54. Xa¥ at el akbar fan moqabala(tin) se-taE$al 
Is diffused tbe news of a confronting,* 4 which sball bappen 

fie mabain jelelet Imperatour INapolion, wa jelelet melicet 
between his Majesty tbe Emperor queen 

Ispania. * A personal meeting. 

55. Gazettet Bombay fie 27 Temouz aflanat, bi*enna el 

bewa el a$far qad fetec bi maqatafat moktelife fil Hind, 

air yellow {cholera) bad attacked districts divers in India. 

56. Yoqal enna leis ittifaq bain Aabat ul fumarat il 
It is said, tbat is no concord officers fleet 

Fransewieya wa Sabat ul fumarat il Ingliezieya ; li^enna el 

Eransewieyien yoriedoun en yecounou waEdibom el MoEamien 
tbe Erencb wisb to be alone tbey Protectors 

fan jeziera Madaqasqar b'isrihe. 
of island collectively. 



HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 185 

57. Qad EadaBat zelzele f a5uima fie Antiegou fie Ameriece : 

fa hodimat heAih el mediena : fa mat bihi min Aelic *elfan 
was demolished this city : died from that 2000 

nefsen. 

58. EJ xiqaq lem yezel fie Ameriece ; wa lem tezel el 

schism ceased not in 

istif dadat el Earbieya. 
preparations warlike. 

59. Inna EaSrat SaEub el f^ama wa el iqtidar, maulana 

grandeur authority, our master 

e\ soltan el af^am qad arsel ila el Aarb-a-kana miqdaran 
sultan mightiest had dispatched Mint a quantity 

wafiran min *ewani el .Aeheb wa el fuSSa, maf el *emr el 
copious vessels gold silver order 

Tali bi Sarbihe fomlaten. 
high to stamp them for coin. 

60. Ceteb jornal Ezmier fie 9 Ab : — Qad oflin bi aSwat 
Wrote journal August : was notified by cries 

el silaE, neher el GelaGa, fie 6 Ab, fand el sef at el 

"all'arme" (alarm) full day Tuesday at hour 

faxira mese, ixtifal el nar fie SayiE el Islam. Fa teraceS el 
10 th morning, activity of fire quarter ran together 

nes ; lecin bil batul cen ijtihed li utfaihe : li*enna 
men: but in vain was the effort to extinguish it because 

hoboub riyaE el ximal ezed el lehieb, wa 

blowing of the winds of the North increased the flame 



186 HANDBOOK OF MODEEN AEABIC. 

esraf bi iratitedoh : wa la sieyima li^enna el SayiE, elleAi 
hastened to extend it especially quarter wherein 

naxabat bihi el nar, cen jamief oh min el ak3ab, wa qarieba 
shot (up) the fire all of it planks (wood) near 

boyoutoh li bafSuhe [bafS], na3aran li iaiqat 

its houses to one another in respect of the narrowness 

eswaqoh wa xawarrThe. Fa cenet el mo'Suiba ¥a3uima, wa 
of its streets and its roads. was calamity vast 

el kisera ¥ omoumieya. "Wa isteqamat ehwal el nar tisfa 
loss general continued the terrors of the fire 9 

sef at, doun en testatuif f ala teuquifihe qouwa baxarieya, 
hours without that shall avail to stop it force human 

na5aran li sorfat mesierihe ¥ ala j anaE ul he wa. "Wa lemma j at 
speed of its march wing air. when 

el set at el sebif a min el $abaE,tewaqqafat el nar, bafdama cenet 

daraset sebafatafxar iaEuya(ten) wa Eayan, taEtewi fala 
levelled 17 township parish, (which) contain 

sebaf mi^eya wa sebafuin beiten, wa GeleGa jawamif, wa 

700 70 house 3 chief mosques 

arbafa mesejid, wa GeleBa medaris. "Wa lau cenet laEaqat 
4 mosques 3 colleges if it had reached 

bi 3ayiE el Tehoud, le ma cen fair Allah yaflem, ila *ein 
quarter Jews, none save God knows, whither 

montehehe. "Wa qad auqafat heAih el moSuibat el moriefa 
its end. has thrown down this calamity awful 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 



187 



ecGar foqara *ehl el Islam bi Eale moEzine ; li^enna *olouf 
poor people state mournful thousands 

minhom, aSbaEou bila melja 5 ", yeste5ulloun bil kiyam, au 
(who) passed morning refuge, shade themselves in tents 

yafroSoun wojouhehom li Earr il xams. 
expose faces heat sun. 

Eijal el Eocouma qad famalou ma yajib falaihom. Pa 
Men of the Gov* had done what was a duty 

fasecir el moEai^a wa el taupajieya wa baEEarat el sefayin, 
soldiers of garrison artillery crews of ships 

homma ixtafalou bi himma, yaqSar fanhe coll 

these worked (were busy) earnestness falls short of it 

medieE. Wa lasieyima el wali, ^oGman Baxa, fa ittejeh bi 
eulogy {nom.) especially Governor set out by 

nefsoh li maEall il moSuiba, wa meceO Eatte' el SabaE. 
himself place of calamity tarried until morning 

"Wa^emma baEEarat el qabaq el Fransewi Fontounoui wa 
But the crews of ship of the line Eontenoy ? 

el vapour Heroun fa qad hera'rou fand 5ohour el Earieqa maf 
steamer hurried at appearance of conflagration 

ceGier min iabayuthom, wa qaddamou kadamat collieya ila 
many of officers offered (gave) services entire to 

el mediena, Easeb xatarathom. Wa ce Aelic ceGieroun min 
the city, cleverness. so too many of 



188 HANDBOOK OF 1IODEEN AEABIC. 

afyan el tebafat el ajnabieya qad a3herou jeserathom bi 
gentry subjects foreign displayed bravery 

tenqief e] nar, Hal mesierhe. 
stopping during its progress. 

61. Qad fotiE fie 6 Xobat [1862] majlis el Parleman fie 

was opened February assembly in 

Londra ; wa telat jelelet melicet Ingilterra fiehi kotbathe el 
London; read majesty queen her address 

senawieya, toflin bihe sorourhe wa irtilahe min 
annual in which she declares her joy satisfaction 

fulaqatihe ma? qouwat Europpa el ajnabieyat, el leti lem 
connections powers of foreign which not 

tezel moxaddada bi ribaT ul Eobb. Wa Giqathe, bi ?6dm 
ceased strung tight bond amity. her trust (is) in non- 

wojoud sebab, yestatui? en yaiorr bi $61E Europpa. 

existence of cause (which) may be able to hurt peace of 

Gomma tecellemat fan el teswieyat il morZuya el leti 
[Next she spoke concerning settlement satisfactory which 

jarat ma? Ameriece, bi kb'SouS EadiGat il sefienat 

took place with in respect to the occurrence of the ship 

il Ingliezieya ; wa fan ittiEad il qouwat il 0ela9 fie mesielet 
[the Trent] agreement Powers Three question 

il Mecsiec ; wa fan tejriedat il Suin, wa axCal Maracix. 
Mexico expedition of China affairs of Morocco. 

62. Ila' EaSrat* el moxtericien. Bi coll 1 sorour in 
To Messieurs contributors (subscribers). "With all joy 



HANDBOOK OF MODERN AEABIC. 189 

noqaddim el teheni ila '1 jemief bi dokoul heAe 

we present congratulations to all on the entrance of this 

el f am el jadied, se^ilien el Mania', en yajfaloh 

year new asking the Lord (Master) that he make it 

faman mobaracen, maqrounan bil teufieq wa '1 nejaE. 
a year blessed coupled with prosperity and success. 

Noflin ila' EaSrat el moxtericien fil Iscendarieya, enna 
We notify to (our subscribers) ' in Alexandria that 

heAe el fadad faqa% elleAi hou auwal ? adad heAe el f am, 
this numero only, which is first numero of this year 

yaSulhom min yed wecielina el kawaja Escender 

will reach them from the hand of our agent Mr. Alexander 

Toubeni : wa min bafdoh narjouhom, en yestelimou 

henceforward we entreat them that they receive 

jornalethom min wecelet el Posta; li^ennena 

their journals from the agencies of the Post because we 

norsilo^f li coll 1 minhom rasen, marraten ma? el 

dispatch it to all of them by the head, sometimes with the 

Mescouvi, wa marraten ma? el Pransewi, *em el Nimsewi. 
Muscovite, sometimes with the Prench or Austrian. 

63. Inna el mosehimien fil tarieq bain Beirout wa 

As regards the shareholders in (rail)way between 

Damaxq, elleAien ePen lem yadfafou el qist el GeliO el 
Damascus, who now have not paid instalment third 

* EaSrat, presence, used like Majesty, Excellency, as a title ; but alike 
for the sovereign or for any respectable person. 

f Jornal, masc. though as a foreign word, it has pi. in -et. 



190 HANDBOOK OP MODERN ARABIC. 

matloub monA xehr Xoba% norsil eshemhom ila 

demanded since month February we shall dispatch shares to 

Baries, lecei tobaf honec bi moujib el madda 11, 

Paris, in order that may be sold there by virtue of article 

el motefalliqa bi Aelic, min qawanien el Xarace ; — iAe 
relating to that (topic) of the canons (rules) Association if 

lem yadfafou heAe el qist min el^en li Eadd 15 

they (shall) not have paid this instalment limit 

Temouz el qadim. 
July approaching. 

Inna el mosehimien, elleAien dafafou el qosout li 
As for the shareholders who have paid instalments up to 

Eadd ePan, yejib EoSourhom min ibtida xehr 

the present time, is right their personal presence beginning 

Temouz el qadim ila maEall el Xarace yeumieyan, min 

July approaching, place (office) the Company daily from 

el sefa 9 ila 11, li qabS el fayidat el mosteEaqqa lihom. 

hour to get-in-hand interest (profit) due to them. 



CORKIGENDA. 

Page 26, line 7, for xamiqa read xahiqa or xamika, 



28, 


» 


3, /or Tan raw* fan. 


34, 


?» 


13, /or Dar read Dar. 


48, 


ii 


3, /or Man r<?«^ Man. 


111, 


)> 


7, /or an adverb, read a preposition. 


115, 


» 


15, for (♦)r>-i ?"^ flrH- 


119, 


j> 


4, for Dimaxq, read Damaxq. 


136, 


» 


4 from bottom, for Ircebt read Eacebt, 


137, 


» 


3, for f ileic read f aleic. 


140, 


j> 


2, /or sit, read set. (N.B.) 


147, 


»> 


5, for shall, r#«(£ sbalt. 


148, 


» 


10, for does, ra«£ dost. 


155, 


» 


3, for for keif, rcw^ ceif. (N.B.) 


156, 


jj 


7, owtV tban. 


158, 


»j 


10, for qabla, rasoJ qablan. 


159, 


» 


13, for ^emarac read ^emrec. 


159, 


» 


3 from bottom, for weqt read waqt. 



In many places I have failed of rightly placing the dot under I (of El), 
which a diligent student must correct. A zero would certainly catch the 
eye better. I may add that the typefounder has mounted f on a taller 
stalk than I intended ; and I now wish I had taken away the stalk 
entirely, and made the letter like a crescent-moon shield. Moreover, I 
wish *S to be only of the same height as s, and the small a to be narrower 
than it is here. 



HERTFORD ; 
PRINTED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN, 



MAY 2 5 1951 













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